Chernukha and zamanukha: What was the advertising like during the Ukrainian elections (PHOTO, VIDEO)
Kyiv, October 24 (PolitNavigator, Vladimir Raichenko) – The remarkable thing about the current election campaign in Ukraine is not only the relative predictability of the results due to the virtual elimination of the opposition, but also, with rare exceptions, the absence of creative political advertising.
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Let's start with the undisputed leader in the ratings of the current parliamentary race - the Petro Poroshenko Bloc. Here with advertising everything is simple and unpretentious. Peace and unity are the main slogans of the presidential force and... a clear desire to convert the president’s high rating into acceptable results for a party hastily put together for elections.
Perhaps Poroshenko’s PR people considered this advertising successful - they say, look, even the Crimean Tatars are becoming Ukrainized. True, the duality and ambiguity of this particular text is noticeable and does not go away, given that it is not entirely clear what exactly Mustafa Dzhemilev means by the definition of “Ukrainian” - citizenship or ethnicity.
Another distinctive feature is the presence of a considerable number of candidates who are not related to the president, but are actively parasitizing on his rating. For example, majoritarian Sergei Kandyba in the 95th district. Here we see not the cloning of personalities, but the actual cloning of election slogans in the hope of snatching a piece of the pie. However, it is possible that in this way competitors are trying to snatch votes from Alexander Tigov, a candidate from Poroshenko’s party.
Another applicant for the coveted crust, a certain Dmitry Olshansky, claims that he supports Poroshenko’s reforms and promises, together with the president, to unite the country and cleanse power. The competitors, as we see, were outraged by such impudence. As a result, on some billboards, President Olshansky is artificially turned into Pilipishin, known for his confrontation with the nationalist Yuri Levchenko in the 223rd district, on others, Olshansky himself is covered in paint.
Pylypyshyn himself is again trying his luck in the 223rd district. And he also does not hesitate to use the presidential slogan “Chas ednatis” (“Time to unite”) in his campaigning. True, Poroshenko was quick to declare that Pilipishin was not given such a right.
Apparently, Pilipishin’s main rival in the last elections received the right to publicly demonstrate support from the president. But competitors, as we see, are not asleep here either, enriching the visual propaganda of the nationalist Levchenko with additional characteristics.
The Right Sector, despite the strong protection promised by Yarosh, does not have much advertising in the capital.
One of the leaders in the number of advertising products is Oleg Lyashko, who needs no introduction. He promises to ban the sale of land, not to let anyone dominate his native land, takes pictures with cows and even lifts Kolomoisky on a pitchfork, shaking out pensions and salaries from the oligarch.
But the director of Viking-4 LLC, Gennady Palamarchuk, in an attempt to attract voters, simply relied on the Constitution. For now, however, only a hand. It is not customary to place other parts of the body on the Basic Law during the election attraction.
Former deputy head of the NBU Alexander Savchenko approached the matter like a banker: he promises to return the dollar at eight, perhaps for greater effect by displaying his leaflets in the white and blue colors of the Party of Regions, reminiscent of the course under Yanukovych.
The Party of Regions is not going to the polls, but its fragments in the form of the “Opposition Bloc” are offering a kind of remake of the slogan “Making life easier today,” promising to raise pensions and salaries.
Other candidates try to compensate for the lack of creativity in their advertising by placing it. For example, the campaigning of Yuriy Shcherban, a majoritarian member of Batkivshchyna, can be seen both at retail outlets and on garbage containers. Either a subtle calculation to attract the electorate, or they are already beginning to prepare for the “garbage lustration” that has gained popularity.
Yulia Tymoshenko, in addition to herself, made Nadezhda Savchenko, accused by Russia of involvement in the deaths of Russian journalists, the face of her “Batkivshchyna” election campaign and the first number on the list. And nothing else remarkable.
Not far from “Batkivshchyna” in terms of creativity are its fragments in the form of the “Popular Front” of Yatsenyuk-Turchynov. There are a lot of advertisements, but nothing catchy. The only thing that attracted attention was the anti-PR of Arseniy Petrovich, who, it seems, was overtaken by the punishing hand of his former party comrades. It turned out to be clear and ambiguous, considering that in a literal translation into Russian, “Having sold Batkishchyna - leaving the front” sounds like “Sold the Motherland - led the front.”
The battalion-front theme is present in the advertising of many political forces and candidates. Semyon Semenchenko, commander of the Donbass battalion defeated near Ilovaisk, was included in the top five on the list of the Lviv mayor’s Samopomich party.
Judging by the abundance of Vyacheslav Konstantinovsky’s campaign products in his constituency, the money from the sale of an expensive car went more likely to election advertising rather than equipment and uniforms.
The popular battalion theme is played on by the owner of the Granit construction company, Viktor Vydrenko, who decided to bring a construction battalion to the Rada.
Against the background of mostly dull and inexpressive election advertising, the “Internet Party of Ukraine” certainly stands out, the top five of which were made up of the heroes of the space saga “Star Wars”: Darth Vader, Emperor Pallatine, Chewbacca, Padmé Amidala and Master Yoda. All of them are registered to participate in the elections under these names.
At the presidential elections in May, Darth Vader was unlucky - the Central Election Commission did not allow him to participate in the elections, citing the refusal that allegedly registering a candidate under that name would “lead to the humiliation of Ukrainian society, discrediting Ukraine in the eyes of the international community and leveling the post of president.” But now each of the 12 capital districts has its own Darth Vader registered.
And this sample rightfully claims to be the Grand Prix of the election campaign. A billboard with the inscription “Those going to Parliament salute you”, which shows the entire top five of the party, a clear allusion to the gladiatorial address “Those going to death salute you” to the emperor before entering the Colosseum arena. And even if now the Svoboda members, the main fighters of the last season, do not get into the Verkhovna Rada, then you can be sure that there will be no shortage of more gladiators in the new convocation for the amusement of the spectacle-demanding public. The main thing, probably, is that with such a composition there will be no problems with bread.
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