The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, used Valentine’s Day to launch a new campaign to celebrate London’s rich diversity and send the message that every Londoner is loved and wanted in the city.

Created by McCann London the ‘Loved and Wanted’ campaign launched at Outernet London on Valentine’s Day. It will run for two weeks both in Outernet London and across high-impact areas across the capital.

The campaign launches amidst an increasingly polarized media ecosystem and six months after towns and cities in the UK experienced racist riots, violence and unrest.

According to the team behind the campaign, the ‘Loved and Wanted’ work ‘serves as a direct affirmation that London remains a beacon of hope, resilience, and multiculturalism’. 

The campaign brings together a broad range of organisations and community groups to show the world that diversity is London’s greatest strength and that people from all backgrounds are celebrated and welcomed. The campaign is designed to celebrate acts of love: the everyday gestures that build solidarity, the small kindnesses that ripple outwards, and the bold actions that challenge injustice. 

The launch of the campaign was attended by Sadiq Khan as well as faith leaders and representatives from London’s communities including LGBTQIA+, migrant and deaf and disabled Londoners, soul singer and activist, Mica Paris and Ukrainian chef and digital media artist, Alisa Cooper.

The campaign embraces London’s diverse communities, sending a message to all Londoners across different backgrounds, including migrant and faith communities, LGBTQIA+ Londoners, and those impacted by international conflicts. Loved and Wanted extends across the capital with multilingual advertising in community spaces and digital platforms, having been translated into the 17 most spoken languages in the city.

This fllexibility and open-mindedness was also brought to the creative process. During the campaign’s creative exploration, McCann engaged St John’s CE Primary School in Enfield to design their own ampersands. Out of all the submissions, a KS2 student, Olivia, was selected with her inspired love heart ampersand which has gone on to be used across the city.

Over 110 organisations have signed up to share postcards and window stickers, including The Felix Project, Royal Academy of Arts, Black Cultural Centre, English National Ballet, London Museum, Bernie Grant Centre, Southbank Centre, churches, mosques and synagogues.

Media partners supporting the campaign have gifted £573,000 worth of free advertising space, to get the message out to Londoners through out of home advertising, including JC Decaux, Jack Arts, London Lites, Landsec and Outernet. In addition, over 130 community organisations, businesses, faith centres, libraries, and cultural organisations have so far supported by sharing campaign materials in their spaces and with their networks across the capital.

The campaign’s striking message ‘London is, and always will be, a place for everyone’ was previewed earlier this month when ran on the iconic Piccadilly Lights digital out of home platform.

The campaign is also providing tangible support for London’s communities with financial support available through the Community Recovery Fund and Mayor’s Community Weekend 2025, thanks to funding from The National Lottery Community Fund to empower local projects that bring people together. While a community toolkit, made available to councils and grassroots organisations, to help them promote social cohesion at a local level. 

Sadiq Khan, The Mayor of London, explained: “London is the greatest city in the world because of the incredible people who live here. Londoners come from every walk of life, from every religious, ethnic and social background and from all over the world to make this fantastic city. Sadly, we are living in increasingly uncertain and unsettling times, and I know the worry and concern that this is having in our communities. That’s why we’re bringing together organisations and community groups across the capital to send a clear message that all Londoners are loved and wanted in our great city. London is, and always be, a place for everyone.”

Mel Arrow, Chief Strategy Officer of McCann London, added: “Our job as communications experts is to find the right words, but in this case, Sadiq Khan found them. His tweet, in response to last year’s far right riots, said everything we wanted to. We have simply given it life. And we are so proud to have done so. We want this slogan to be used long after today, and to give everyone who is proud of London’s diversity a dose of hope. Perhaps they’ll feel a little bit prouder and a little bit closer to their community after seeing it. We certainly do.”

Valentines Day 2025 brought many moments of marketing love for a diverse range of brands. In an era where consumers are overwhelmed by a polarising news cycle, moments of light relief, kindness and togetherness are increasingly important. For the creative industries campaigns like this are a powerful reminder of how communication can help change the narrative.