The much-loved iconic neon pouring Lucozade bottle sign in Brentford has been replaced with a modern giant digital screen.
The famous retro sign seems to have been replaced overnight and has come as a shock to people who regularly use this strip of the M4 in west London.
The high-rise promotion of the fizzy drink is a symbol to many people in the area that they are arriving near their home and has been around since 1954.
Getwestlondon reported earlier in the year that Brentford-based advertising firm JC Decaux had applied to replace the 1950s advert with a TV screen to advertise the Lucozade brand but it was rejected by Hounslow council, to the relief of local people.
People have taken to Twitter in utter disbelief and confusion that the sign has gone.
Choreographer and founder of Alliance Dance Unit in Brentford, Torron-Lee Dewar tweeted: “Where has the iconic M4 Lucozade sign gone...Has it been taken down again? Looks like a screen took over!
Brentford Heritage tweeted:
Historic
It was one of the first kinetic art sculptures in London built at the Lucozade factory in another Brentford location, and had its famous slogan, ‘Lucozade Aids Recovery’ changed to the current ‘Lucozade replaces lost energy’ in the 1980s.
The original sign was donated to Gunnersbury Museum in 2004 after GlakoSmithKline (GSK) decided to sell the building and a public campaign to save the sign led to a replica being placed at York House in 2010.
However in September 2013, Japanese company Suntory bought the Lucozade brand from GSK and put in a planning application to modernise the sign which was rejected.
Other Twitter comments included:
Hounslow council and JC Decaux have been contacted for a comment.
Tell us what you think about the removal of the iconic Lucozade sign and its replacement screen by leaving a comment below.
