These Days Y&R revisits WWII for Het Laatste Nieuws

As of 18th April, Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws is reprinting 24 historical newspapers on World War II. The aim of the biggest Belgian newspaper is to make its readership reflect on this horrifying chapter in human history. To introduce the series, These Days Y&R has mounted a campaign that also merits a moment of reflection.

It’s been 75 years since WWII broke out. The perfect time to look back on some historical newspapers. That is why, over the next few weeks, Het Laatste Nieuws is reprinting a number of key newspapers. Not all the selected issues date back to the war period itself. On the contrary, most are actually from the years before the war.

The newspapers primarily tell the story of the events leading up to WWII. That’s why our campaign takes the reader back to pre-war days. The TV spot does this by rewinding time in an alienating way, whereas the print and radio campaign focuses on locations whose name is forever tainted by the horrors of WWII. The series chronicles what life was like in those places when war was still a distant nightmare, and the result is very confronting’ according to Sam De Volder, ECD of These Days Y&R.                                                       

To find these images, These Days Y&R pulled out all the stops. For instance, the photograph of Auschwitz belongs to the private collection of a photographer associated with the Auschwitz Jewish Centre, a Polish museum. Other locations that feature in the campaign are Pearl Harbor and Omaha Beach. The question the campaign raises is answered in the newspapers: how did it ever get to this?

Credits:

Client: Het Laatste Nieuws
Contacts: Inge Debremaeker, Pascale Coppens
Agency: These Days Y&R
Account: Joke Tersago, Veroniek Hesters
Chief Creative Officer: Werner Van Reck
Executive Creative Director: Sam De Volder
Creative Director: Mateusz Mroszczak
Strategic Planner: Nicolas Moerman
Creation: Tomas Van Loon
Creation: Pieter De Lange
Design: Inge Vanhees
Producer: Ingeborg Van Hoof
Radio Production: Studio Helsinki