Man finds billboard he created in Charing Cross 40 years after he created it

A man has been left shocked because a billboard poster he designed 40 years ago is still up and completely intact.

Mick Sands, 65, used to work as an advertising copywriter and had an account to promote hayfever spray which led to billboards put up across the country.

One of those billboards still stands remarkably intact all these years later at Charing Cross tube station.

The billboard shows a garden gnome using a hay fever repelling nasal spray and reads: ‘Otrivine. Specialist in nose care’.

Mick told MailOnline: ‘I was part of the creative team who worked on a poster campaign for Otrivine in 1984.

‘I was working for a West End agency called Leagas Delaney which had the Otrivine account.

‘Gnomes are kept in the garden all the time, so we chose to have a gnome surrounded by flowers.

‘The poster went up around town and I do remember it being placed in Charing Cross underground station in the mid 1980s.’

Mick still remembers the poster because he would walk by it during his commute.

He added: ‘Back in the eighties I remember often passing that Charing Cross poster on my way to the office.

‘And I do recall once finding it was still there after 20 odd years but I hadn’t been past it for ages until the other day – and I can’t believe it’s still there now

‘It is now 40 years since it was first put up.

‘I’ve no idea why it has never been replaced as the campaign ended so long ago.

‘I can’t believe the makers of Otrivine are still paying for the site. Perhaps it has just been forgotten about.’

‘I’m sure that the thousand of people who must pass it every day have no idea that it went up as long ago as the eighties.’

The Otrivine nasal spray is manufactured by Haleon who have offices in Weybridge, Surrey.

The product in its modern form still exists but its packaging design has since changed.

No one knows why it has remained around for so long and Network Rail and Westminster Council have been contacted for comment.

Gareth Davies, UK CEO at Leagas Delaney, told Metro: ‘We were as surprised as anyone to find out that the advert that we developed for Otrivin, over 40 years ago, is still going strong at Charing Cross Station.

‘It must be the oldest advert on the Underground and, with the media spend having ended decades ago, it is surely proof that the advertising developed by Leagas Delaney delivers the best return on investment in the industry!’

Haleon said in a statement: ’Unfortunately we don’t have a record of when the contract for the advertising space ended, but we’ll happily take the ad back for archiving purposes.

‘The ad is a great reminder of how our long-standing Otrivine brand has evolved over the years.’

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