Foreign Ministry condemns Meduza ad featuring Ukrainians
Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly condemned the use of images of Ukrainians affected by Russian aggression in an advertisement for the Latvia-based Russian media outlet Meduza.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; Detector Media
Quote from the ministry: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly condemns the use of images of Ukrainians who have suffered as a result of Russian terror in advertising for a Russian media outlet.
A special ‘award’ for marketing cynicism and hypocrisy should be given to the Lure agency from Berlin. They featured Ukrainians who have lost their families and their homes in a promotional video for the Russian media outlet Meduza. The use of our tragedy to garner sympathy for the Russians is an absolute disgrace."
Details: Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi called for "the immediate removal of all advertising content that exploits Ukrainian suffering caused by Russian terror from all the media platforms where it has appeared". He also said that the Ukrainians whose grief has been cynically exploited deserve an apology.
Detector Media said the Meduza advertising campaign was first reported by Viktoriia Feshak, a member of Vitsche Berlin, a Ukrainian NGO.
Feshak said she had seen the ad in a Berlin cinema before a film screening. The video contained shocking footage of the war in Ukraine, including the funeral of the wife and daughters of Yaroslav Bazylevych, who lost his family in a Russian attack on Lviv.
The advertisement was created for Meduza by the Berlin-based agency Lure. The agency did not charge for its services. The campaign slogan is "Where other headlines end, Meduza begins".
The campaign video is based on news footage, along with "first-hand accounts" from journalists who "risk their lives every day to tell the truth".
Vitsche Berlin strongly condemned the advertisement, accusing the agency of manipulation and attempting to portray Russians as victims of the war. They also called for the ad not to be shown in European cities.
Update: As of 21:50, the campaign page featuring the video is no longer loading.
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