Viacom announces five Jubilee bus sponsors

Viacom Outdoor has lined up five sponsors for its 50 gold-painted buses to commemorate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee this year.

The sponsors are Nestlé’s Felix cat-food brand, Marks & Spencer, Mars’ Celebrations, Unilever’s Surf and Transport for London (TfL). The packages were created in association with TfL and the Golden Jubilee Committee, and are worth about &£200,000 each to sponsor ten buses.

Part of the sponsorship fee includes a donation to Barnado’s, one of the Queen’s nominated charities for the Golden Jubilee.

The first branded Jubilee bus on the streets features Felix with the strapline “Pussycat, Pussycat, where have you been?”. Felix group brand manager Louise Radcliffe says: “Felix’s appearance on the gold buses is an excellent mechanism for brand awareness.”

London Taxis has manufactured 51 gold-painted cabs for individual cab owners in London.

Each cab features an individual number corresponding to a year of the Queen’s reign and the official Jubilee emblem.

During the Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977, 25 London buses were sprayed silver and sponsored by companies including the Abbey National and the Daily Mirror.

The main events for the Golden Jubilee celebrations, including two free concerts in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, will take place over the extended Bank Holiday of June 1 to 4.