| Title | VICTORY DAY |
| Brand | INFORMATIONAL RESISTANCE |
| Product/Service | SOCIAL |
| Category |
A04. Crisis Communications & Issue Management |
|
Entrant Company
|
TABASCO Kiev, UKRAINE
|
|
Advertising Agency
|
TABASCO Kiev, UKRAINE
|
|
Production Company
|
LIME LITE STUDIO Kiev, UKRAINE
|
Credits
| Alexander Smirnov |
Tabasco |
Creative Director |
| Alexander Gorlov |
Tabasco |
Chief Executive Officer |
| Elena Sukhanova |
Tabasco |
Managing Director |
| Mikhail Dragan |
Tabasco |
Copywriter |
| Ivan Barbul |
Tabasco |
Copywriter |
| Mikhail Suslov |
Tabasco |
Art Director |
| Olga Zhegulina |
Tabasco |
Agency Producer |
| Vladimir Yatsenko |
Limelite Studio |
Executive Producer |
| Albert Zurashvili |
Limelite Studio |
Executive Producer |
| Julia Foster |
Limelite Studio |
Line Producer |
The Campaign
Today, Russia and Ukraine are at war against each other.
Propaganda of the Russian Federation was fueling violence and hatred between Ukraine’s ethnic groups.
Before Victory Day propaganda of the Russian Federation was attempting to rewrite the history of World War II and misappropriate Victory Day.
We decided to disarm the propaganda war with a clear message of peace, rooted in the days when Ukrainians and Russians were brothers and together fought to defeat Nazi Germany.
Ukrainian characters (Soviet Army veterans and their grandchildren - Ukrainian young soldier, and Ukrainian young nurse) speak Russian in order to reach audiences of Russian-speaking Ukrainians and Russia with this call for peace.
The campaign has caused enormous response in Ukraine and Russia.
PR elements of the campaign:
The films collected more than 2 million views on YouTube with no seeding at all.
The campaign has become a newsmaker with overall coverage of 15 million people in Ukraine and 25 million people in Russia.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko shared the films as he congratulated all veterans on Victory Day.
And all major TV channels in Ukraine and Russia have broadcasted both films multiple times, flooding social media platforms with messages of peace and solidarity.
The campaign ensured peaceful celebration of the Victory Day and there were no conflicts at all.
The Brief
Our goal was to reach audiences of Russian-speaking Ukrainians and Russians with this propaganda call for peace and solidarity. We aimed to disarm the propaganda war with a clear message of peace, rooted in the days when Ukrainians and Russians were brothers, fought and died together to defeat Nazi Germany. We wanted to send clear message to all people of Ukraine despite of language, ethnic group and traditions.
Execution
Short films are produced in Russian with Ukrainian subtitles. It was especially important to have the Ukrainian characters speak in Russian in order to reach audiences in Russia and Russian-speaking Ukrainians with this message for peace.
In one of the videos called "Grandfather," a young Ukrainian soldier calls his grandfather, a Soviet Army veteran. The soldier speaks in Russian, congratulating his grandfather on Victory Day—a national holiday commemorating the end of WWII. The young soldier says the Soviet slogan “Happy Victory Day” and his grandfather replies “Glory to Ukraine." The coupling of these two emotionally and politically charged phrases create a powerful effect on audiences, crushing hollow political clichés, and shattering the illusion of a divided Ukraine.
In the second film a nurse at a war hospital, has a similar conversation with her grandmother.
After the press-conference where the films were presented they went viral within a day covering not only Ukrainian, but also Russian, Belarus and international media.
The campaign launched just three days before we produced the case film and it has already caused an enormous response in Ukraine and Russia. The films have already been seen over 2 million times on YouTube (with no seeding at all), Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko shared the films as he congratulated all veterans on Victory Day, and all major TV news channels in Ukraine and Russia have broadcast both films multiple times, flooding social media platforms with messages of peace and solidarity from both sides.
Free broadcasting as public awareness advertising on Ukrainian media.
Articles in Forbes, BBC, the Economist etc.
The campaign has become a newsmaker with overall coverage of 15 million people in Ukraine and 25 million people in Russia.
The Strategy
Our strategy was to make films, which show that Ukrainians are open for peace dialogue. In order to reach Russian-speaking audience whose grandparents were soldiers of Soviet Army we invited legendary actors from the most popular Ukrainian movies about the WWII and present their civic stand. From the childhood every modern Ukrainian knows them as symbols of the Victory Day. They are supposed to be “pro-Russian” and “anti-Ukrainian”, but they are not indeed. We wrote a script about two generations: WWII veterans and their grandchildren, which are at frontline at this moment. The plan was to present these films at the press-conference and share them through web to gain attention of main Ukrainian media. The goal was to gain free placement of these films on main TV channels, and this goal was successfully fulfilled due to enormous impact of the campaign.