VML and Q8 pack 40 years into 30 seconds
Antwerp - 7 October 2026
Q8 is celebrating 40 years in Belgium. And over four decades, you see quite a lot go by. A first date starting. Or a last one ending... Holidays finally kicking off, followed, unfortunately, by workweeks that do the same. From moving boxes to child car seats, from early mornings to late nights. Reason enough for Q8 and VML to hit rewind and look back on all those moments, big and small, along the way.
40 years alongside life's journey.
For the new 30” spot, created with LOVO and Mr. Francois, VML looks back at those four decades as if the cameras at the pump had simply kept rolling the entire time.
Cars changed. Haircuts, thankfully, did too. But why people pull over along the way? Surprisingly little seems to have changed there.
Shot for real. Cleverly rewound.
The film combines real footage with AI. To make the jumps through time, the AI was fed gigabytes of archival Q8 material, allowing stations from every era to be rebuilt down to the smallest detail: from pumps and facades to logos, colors, and signage.
That’s how four decades of Q8 come together in a single film. Because shooting 40 years in just one shoot day remains, even with a strong crew, a bit ambitious.
And the anniversary didn't stop with the film. Q8 kept the celebrations going across radio and social media as well.
Fueling & charging & shopping & building
For its 40th anniversary, Q8 is also tapping into some toy nostalgia with three free building sets to construct your very own mini Q8: a service station, a shop, and (a little less retro) a charging station.
Anyone refueling, charging, or shopping can collect the sets via the Q8 app. Toys like the old days, but with the Q8 of today.
And there are still plenty of candles left to blow out. Over the coming months, a series of birthday activations will also roll out across real-world Q8 stations.
Credits:
Client: Q8
Client Contact: Birgit Mitchell, Michelle Manders, Lore Ketels
Agency: VML Belgium
Executive Creative Directors: Arjen Tarras, Kasper Janssens
Creative team: Jasper Macken, Mathijs Bettens, Tomas Van Loon, Luc Shih
NL Copywriter: Jelle Raats
FR Copywriter: Jérôme Van Den Broeck
Account Team: Stéphanie Romano, Lotte Munnik, Joke Van Bourgognie, Ward Uydens Strategy: Jef Pelkmans
Design: Christophe De Pelsemaker, Timothy Helmer
DTP: Jan-Bart Debruyne, Theo Hagtingius, Anja Van den Broeck
Agency Producer: Caroline Van Ranst, Ingeborg van Hoof
Motion design: Lucas Van Orshaegen, Jeremie Mavanga, Andreas De Ridder
Sound Engineer: Menno Van Riet
Production Company: Lovo Films
Director: Mr François
Executive Producer: Bert Brulez
Producers: François Chandelle, Rien Behaeghe
Production manager: Pierre Heymans
DOP: Joffrey Bardon Gac
Post Producer: Hervé Closset
VFX & Online: Patrice Gautot