Channel 4 to support #ClapForOurCarers with special NHS ad break takeover

Channel 4 will join forces with 39 advertisers to show solidarity and support for the NHS by creating a special ad break takeover which will air in Channel 4 News in the first break after 8pm.

The unique 3min 30sec ad-break will follow the broadcaster’s extended news coverage which will cover the wider national social movement #clapforourcarers* - a campaign which will bring together the nation tonight at 8pm to applaud those looking after our loved ones from windows, doorsteps and balconies.  

The creative will showcase a series of advertisers* who, alongside Channel 4, are proud to celebrate the NHS. A sequence of user-generated-content clips, filmed on hand held devices, will feature a selection of workers from each brand clapping, saying thank you and taking the opportunity to show their appreciation.

Channel 4 will also be supporting and sharing in this ‘thank you’ moment with viewers throughout the day, including:

• Social media content across Channel 4 platforms with some of the broadcaster’s most-loved characters applauding.
• Continuity announcements and creative idents will appear across Channel 4 output several times in the build up to the 8pm clap

Matt Salmon, Director of Sales at Channel 4 said: “Feeling connected to each other and being part of a shared national ‘moment’ has never felt more important and we are incredibly proud to be able to play our part in showing appreciation for the fantastic NHS. What better way to do this than by joining forces with our advertisers who have responded, at lightning speed, to create this moving commercial break.”

Annemarie Plas, a yoga teacher and software sales person who set up the #Clapforourcarers initiative said: “I’m really pleased so many organisations are getting behind this important campaign, because we need everyone in this fight against the virus.”

The campaign was produced by Sassy Films.

*#Clapforourcarers is an initiative set up by Annemarie, a yoga teacher and a software sales person from Brixton. She thought of the idea whilst on a skype call with her Dutch friends, inspired by the gratitude that’s being shown around the world for healthcare workers amid Covid-19.

*Full list of advertisers:

• ASDA
• Aldi
• Amazon
• Arla Foods
• Baylis & Harding
• Boots
• British Gas
• Co op Bank
• Co-Op Food
• Cushelle
• Dulux
• Ebay
• giffgaff
• Gillette
• Iceland
• Jeep
• Kimberly Clark (Kleenex + Andrex)
• LV
• M&S
• Mars
• Morrisons
• Nat West + Royal Bank of Scotland
• National Lottery (Camelot)
• Nescafe
• Quorn Foods
• Rightmove
• Rimmel & Clairol
• Sainsburys
• Shark
• Skipton Building Society
• The AA
• The Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) TJX (Homesense + TK Maxx) TSB Unison Weetabix ,Wilko, Just Eat