This film is supported by immaculate shots. Not just stunning photography.

But also images that connect to a feeling. The ferocious winter.

The hardness of the weather. The forging nature of everyday people.

The changing conditions. The beauty and the light. The change of a setting seconds.

The transformation of a city. Summer conquering winter. Just for a beat of time.

And an infinite bite of pleasure. That’s why we go black and white. Timeless. Elegant. Balanced. Graphic. Real. Photographed for eternity.

Winter in the UK can be really hard on people, with the outside temperatures hitting a maximum of 1.0ºC1 on average during January and the average daily sun hours being just 2.4 hours2.

People live this month with no sun, lots of rainy, cloudy, and even snowy days. In January, the entire UK averages 15 days of rain or snow, totalling 122 millimetres (4.8 inches)3.

People feel trapped inside, with more than three quarters even admitted they can have occasions where they don’t go outside at all from Monday to Friday4.

And 4 in 10 of them feel unhappier than they do during summer5.

With winter being so harsh on people’s lives, the most loved summer treat also feels the same hard hit: during this season, the ice cream category volume sales drop considerably.

From August to January, the ice cream volume sales drop more than half in the UK, going from 140M litres to only 60M (August 22 vs Jan 23)6.

But, even with all the odds against enjoying an ice cream during the depth of winter, Magnum wanted to change the narrative and invite people to go out there and find their little summer, their moment of pleasure when they need the most.

1 UK Government Met Office - January 2024 Monthly Weather Report

2 Statista 2024

3 Met Office Average Precipitation – UK, 2023

4 Healthspan & OnePoll - UK, 2021

5 British Gas Proprietary Research 2019

6 Kantar Ice Cream Volume Sales UK 2023

Freezing. Wintry. Icy. It's 3:14 pm in the city when, a series of chilly postcards arrive. Steps on snow. Umbrellas. Suddenly, a shimmer of warmth emerges, and a gentle reflection begins to shed radiance. The city purrs like a cat, cloaked in monochromatic hues. Light undulates across buildings. What is going on. The skies start to open up. A cat meows, gazing at its elongated shadows. A man looks up at the sky, bewildered. Elongated shadows stretch across concrete expanses. A street discussion halts. A man steps into the light, traversing buildings. A woman discovers a park bench bathed in light. Everyone gazes skyward. A woman lounges in her bathtub. Quick, this is it. A silhouetted man atop a skyscraper. He suddenly bites into his Magnum ice cream. Crack. It crumbles. Cut to a clock ticking. 3:15 pm. Oh, no. But nothing’s the same. Let’s not break the spell.

Winter has always been a historical low season for the whole Ice Cream category. When January arrives and temperatures outside start hitting a maximum of 1.0ºC1 on average in the UK, people start eating less and less ice cream.

As the category leader, Magnum’s business has been affected by this challenging reality year after year, with Magnum’s penetration in the UK dropping almost 10% from August to January (August 2022 13.1% vs January 2023 4.1%)2.

More than a business challenge, this was a leadership challenge.

Because, if there is one brand that can lead a movement to start changing this seasonality, this brand is Magnum.

And that was what we did.

1 UK Government Met Office - January 2024 Monthly Weather Report

2 Magnum Europanel Q4’2023

This film is supported by immaculate shots. Not just stunning photography.

But also images that connect to a feeling. The ferocious winter.

The hardness of the weather. The forging nature of everyday people.

The changing conditions. The beauty and the light. The change of a setting seconds.

The transformation of a city. Summer conquering winter. Just for a beat of time.

And an infinite bite of pleasure. That’s why we go black and white. Timeless. Elegant. Balanced. Graphic. Real. Photographed for eternity.