Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade launches advertising campaign with models
Pravda Ukraine
The creators explained their plan for the advertising campaign, in which the soldiers of the 3rd Assault Brigade pose on posters along with photo models.
Source: The Washington Post with reference to Dmytro, the chief designer of the campaign
Quote: “We wanted to create a kind of relaxing atmosphere. People think that this is some kind of cunning trick to drag you into the brigade, give a bayonet and send you to fight in the trenches. And we wanted to say that war is not always blood and death, not only the guys who are fighting. Sometimes you just relax.”
Details: The ad campaign was started in response to the Ukrainian government’s decision to permit brigades to look for recruits without going through the military enlistment offices. The 3rd Assault Brigade made the decision to court common people by showing them what awesome fighters they would become if they joined the “best combat unit of Ukraine”.
According to WSJ, model-based advertisements surfaced across Ukraine in early October, to a mixed response from Ukrainians. Some people felt ashamed and uncomfortable about it, while others actually enjoyed the concept. There is little doubt that this type of advertising generated interest and conversation.
According to the Washington Post, this is not the brigade’s first advertising campaign. The military experimented with a novel recruitment strategy in March 2023. Five unit commanders took part in a photo session in the basement of a plant. Instead of hiding their faces with balaclavas, they showed them to the world. The message was “we can be trusted, so join us”.
The creators of the advertising campaign claim that it brought in 150-200 applications per day. The marketing team view it as a success, even though only one out of ten applications resulted in enlistment.
Two more campaigns were launched. In one, recruits reclined in chairs on the lawn and piloted drones against the clear summer sky, while in the other Ukrainian soldiers faced off against the Russian adversaries, who were portrayed as zombies.
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