Why put outdoor kitchens and BBQs on motorway billboards?

At Grillo, we are extremely passionate about promoting outdoor living. Obviously, everyone loves a good BBQ, but an outdoor kitchen is so much more than that. The benefits of being outdoors, away from technology, enjoying the fresh air and good company are real.

It is the first time in history that outdoor kitchens are being given such huge exposure, in line with the growing trend in the UK for outdoor living. The Grillo BBQ and outdoor kitchen billboard adverts have been placed on the M25, M1, and M11. These are some of the busiest motorways in the UK, circling London, with thousands of drivers on the road every day. 

The aim of the campaign is to spread good positive vibes about outdoor living to all road users!

BBQ billboard advert - Grillo Outdoor Kitchens

OUT-GRILL THE JONES’

Location:  M25, M11, M1

Grillo designer comments: “Outdoor kitchens are a pretty new thing to us here in the UK… nearly every customer that buys from us is buying their first ever outdoor kitchen. Exciting times! – but the key here is that there has never been a better time to get ahead of the Jones’ – Out-Grill them with a Grillo kitchen”.

BBQ billboard advert - Grillo Outdoor Kitchens - M11 (Churchgate)

FIGHT WINTER WITH FIRE

Location:  – M11 Junctions 7-8 Churchgate

Grillo designer comments: “Are you awaiting the ferocious onset of winter with trepidation and a bottomless mug of Earl Grey? Well fear not; Earl Grey is remarkably effective. And if all else fails, there’s fire. Finger-warming fire. Steak searing fire. Marshmallow toasting fire. Pork shoulder crackling fire, with apple sauce. Mulled wine warming fire, with friends, fortified with cognac. Enjoy your winter!”

BBQ billboard advert - Grillo Outdoor Kitchens - M1 (Brickett Wood)

FORTUNE FLAVOURS THE BOLD

Location: M1 Junctions 7-6 Brickett Wood

Grillo designer comments: “Fortune favours the bold” is a Latin proverb, known to have been used by such notables as Terence, the Roman playwright, and Pliny the Elder. It logically follows that the ‘flavours’ in our rather-brilliant rewording of the phrase should be both Roman and bold. I’m thinking porchetta; rich, moist, salty, fatty, meltingly-tender pork shoulder, stuffed with garlic, rosemary and fennel, roasted over wood for hours, served stuffed in a panini from a porchetta van in Rome. Or from your Gusto in your Grillo outdoor kitchen.”

BBQ billboard advert - Grillo Outdoor Kitchens - M1 (Redbourn)

DO(N’T) PLAY WITH FIRE

Location: M1 Junctions 8-9 Redbourn

Grillo designer comments: “Most of us have it forcefully drummed into us when we’re children: Don’t play with fire. No, Daddy’s not playing with fire, he’s lighting the barbeque. Yes, I know he’s been out there ages. No, he’s not coming in soon – there’s lots to food to barbeque. Can you take him his beer?
Indulge your inner child. Do play with fire.”

BBQ billboard advert - Grillo Outdoor Kitchens - M25 (Theydon)

A BIRD ON THE BBQ IS WORTH TWO IN THE OVEN

Location: M25 Junctions 17-16 Theydon (southbound)

Grillo designer comments: “This is a cheerful and humorous mangling of the well-known English saying. The origin is uncertain, but some say it has its roots in falconry. The bird in hand (your hunting falcon) is worth more than the two in the bush (the prey). Having grasped this and put it into practice, the question then arises: What to do with the fine fowl your peregrine has just brought down? Do you go to the bother of firing up the grill? The oven is so convenient… This billboard will help point the way; to juicy, smoky perfection.”

BBQ billboard advert - Grillo Outdoor Kitchens - M25 (Brentwood)

MIDWINTER NIGHT’S DREAM

Location: M25 Junctions 27-28 Brentwood

Grillo designer comments: “Barbeque is serious business. So serious we dream of it on a midwinter night. We like the gentle wordplay here. Is it challenging the perception of barbeque as a summer ceremony for burning sausages? Or is it suggesting that an outdoor kitchen is something to drool over for next summer? After all, you won’t need any of Oberon’s homeopathic love potion to make you fall in love with this one.”

Previous Billboards

Steakation location


Grillo designer comments: “A pun, some rhyming, and a whole lot of meaning – we like this one 👍. Staycation is here to stay, and as it’s a little cheaper than travelling overseas, how about getting a new outdoor kitchen…”

Destination garden


Grillo designer comments: Hope we haven’t upset anyone with this one! “BOARDING NOW” is becoming increasingly scarce on Departures boards, so we thought we’d remind everyone what it looks like. And cheerfully point out that if your holiday destination is your garden, you’ll probably make it without losing your luggage. Another reason we like it: Set against a backdrop of golden wheatfields and a cerulean sky, this photo’s reminiscent of the flag of Ukraine. Sláva Ukrayíni!” 👊

Summer is coming.


The phrase “Winter is coming”, prophesying impending doom, was popularised by a certain hit TV series. In the midst of a locked-down Covid winter, when the only glimmer of hope was the success of the vaccines, we thought we’d better warn people what was coming. It came, and Grillo customers were prepared. What a summer ☀!

Outdoors is in.


A Covid special. When the only certainly was uncertainty, and when the limits of ‘travel’ were your own garden fence, the outdoors took on a new importance and our gardens indeed became a lovesome thing. It’s also a contradiction – interpreted logically outdoors is out.

Quite unnecessary.


You can make up your own mind how to read this one! Our accountant is of the ‘quite unnecessary’ camp – he’s never understood why anyone would want to buy an outdoor kitchen. Each to their own!

One life. Grill it.


Grillo designer comments: “A play on ‘One life, live it’. It captures the spirit of a quote by H. Jackson Brown’s mother (often misattributed to Mark Twain) “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” We believe that in twenty years from now, we will be wondering how we ever coped without an outdoor kitchen!”

Sunday office


Grillo designer comments: “A thought-provoking one; a juxtaposition of lifestyles. 2021 blurred the lines of home-life versus work-life more than ever before. Home offices have gone mainstream, but what does your Sunday Office look like?”

Live a little


Grillo designer’s comments: “Some in the Grillo team had never heard of this one before, but Amy insisted it was a known expression. According to Merriam-Webster: 1) to spend time doing enjoyable things, 2) to buy a Grillo outdoor kitchen. So now you know…”

Good times ahead


OK, so this one never actually made it onto a billboard, but it did get sent off for print. It turns out there are laws against road-side advertising that mimics road signs. Funny that.

Have your steak & eat it


Grillo designer comments: “It’s a simple play on the well-known expression ‘You can’t have your cake and eat it’. Whereas if you own a Grillo (and have a steak), you can. The expression got a lot of airtime during Brexit negotiations, but we’re not trying to make a political statement!”

About Grillo Outdoor Kitchens

Grillo Vantage is a design-led outdoor kitchen, blending Iroko hardwood with beautifully finished carbon steel. With a choice of barbecues and appliances, you can create the alfresco area of your dreams.

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