Campaign Spotlight: Fever Unlimited launches ‘Botanical Banksy’ with floral storyteller Lewis Miller

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LONDON, UK — Fever Unlimited and Funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk has partnered with floral heavyweights Miller and Lycett to bring Miller’s famous ‘flower flashes’ from New York to the London streets for the first time to spark joy as the city opens up for summer.

The campaign shows three extravagant floral installations that appear overnight at the iconic Eros statue, the god of sensual love, in Piccadilly Circus, two classic red phone booths, and an unassuming bin. The cultural initiative aims to surprise and delight passers-by and encourage them to pick and create their takeaway bouquets, therefore become part of the installation.

Miller’s New York installations in taxi cabs, trash cans, building sites and hot dog stalls have attracted worldwide attention and praise for transforming everyday parts of the city into interactive floral explosions. It will be the first time he has brought his work to life outside his native New York.

The London flower flashes are part of Funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk’s latest ‘We Need More Flowers’ campaign which celebrates flowers and reminds us why we need more of them in our lives. With online sales of flowers rocketing by 277% during lockdown, flowers have become a potent symbol of hope and connection.

“This is the first time I’ve created Flower Flashes outside my native New York and it’s a fascinating social experiment to see how Londoners react to them.” Lewis said.

“In New York people flock to take the flowers, will cultural stereotypes prevail and Londoners hang back and be more reserved? I started Flower Flashes back in 2000 with a very simple ambition; to create moments of natural beauty in unexpected parts of the city. Getting the opportunity to ‘flash’ such an iconic landmark as Eros is a career highlight; next stop Buckingham Palace!”

Creative Director at Fever Unlimited, Jo Chappel says: “We’ve been watching Lewis’s Flower Flashes across the pond for a few years now, waiting for the right moment to bring him to London and hoping another brand doesn’t get there first! His mission and work fully embody the spirit of the We Need More Flowers campaign so as soon as we received the brief to amplify the ATL across PR and social we knew this was the right time to bring him to London as a first. It was really important to stay true to the guerrilla and participatory roots of Lewis’s Flashes. We didn’t want neat and tidy floral installations to be admired from a distance, we wanted the public to get stuck in, smelling, picking and sharing the flowers as a powerful antidote to the events of the past 18 months. Watching people coming away with armfuls of blooms beaming was a real thrill – the simple joy flowers can bring in action.”

Chanel de Kock from Funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk comments: “Our We Need More Flowers campaign seeks to remind people how flowers are central to so many of life’s important moments. After this past year, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring a unique style of guerrilla floral street art to London to celebrate the city opening up for the summer. We need more love, more real, more together, and we certainly showcased that to London.”

The floral extravaganzas were on public display at Eros, Piccadilly Circus, two red phone boxes on the south side of Great Windmill Street and East London’s Brick Lane for a short time before all 12,000 blooms were dismantled by flower-loving passers-by.

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