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Wessel de Young
Journalist
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Wessel de Young
Journalist
Advertisers in Ukraine know how to use war. From the ministry to the television channel, from the clothing brand to the petrol station, none of their marketing executives come out of the war unused.
The Ministry of Health is leading a campaign against smoking on billboards. Always useful, one might say, war or no war. But the posters depict a soldier: “Defend your health, we will defend the country.”
Many local clothing brands work with yellow and blue logos and all kinds of patriotic prints. And you can buy socks with the now winged words “Russian warship, get out.”
There is also a form of marketing that goes further, namely fundraising for the military in the form of advertising campaigns. At the fuel brand Okko you can “Refuel for revenge”. Billboards at the pump claim that for every liter of fuel, one hryvnia goes to the army, which is intended for the purchase of drones. A win-win situation is how the company presents the promotion. But in the meantime, Okko is obviously using the war to boost his own reputation.
Buttocks on an ammo box
So does the Fifth Channel, the personal television channel of former President Petro Poroshenko. He used his transmitter to campaign against his opponent Zelensky. We know how that electoral battle ended: Zelensky came to power. Men hate each other.
No wonder Zelensky removed the channel from cable. It can only be viewed online. In the province, where many people are completely dependent on cable television for their information, the channel can no longer be received.
But recently the struggling fifth channel has emerged from obscurity with the launch of a nude calendar. It shows black and white nude photos of female reporters and presenters, without their faces, without their most intimate areas, without a nipple to be seen. But every woman has a military attribute: a camouflage net on her breasts, a rifle on her groin, a pair of buttocks on an ammunition box.
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Channel 5
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Channel 5
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Channel 5
Positive news
The calendar is for sale and the proceeds go to the military. The project was conceived by a camerawoman who works at the front. She would receive questions from soldiers who wanted positive news.
“It started as an action just for the military. But it also worked as marketing for us, because people were reminded of the channel again. Because we were no longer seen on cable networks. Suddenly everyone was wondering: where can we find him? Fifth channel?” says Volodymyr Mzelskyi. Shine, because the calendar is flying out the door.
We do it voluntarily. Did you think the channel could force me to undress?
The calendar could be a success, colleagues from other TVs have descended en masse on the Fifth Channel. Naked presenters and reporters would allow themselves to be sexually objectified and undermine the role of women in the media. A storm has broken out on social media. You were for or against the schedule, says Svitlana Ostapa, chairman of the supervisory board of the Ukrainian public broadcaster.
Two presenters on the channel say they didn’t see the scathing reactions coming. “But thanks to all the feminists who got so excited, thanks to them this has become a huge success,” says indignant presenter Katerina Kelboes from behind the table in her studio.
“We’re doing it voluntarily. Did you think the channel could force me to undress?” Her colleague Anna Miroshnichenko is also ferocious: “I am a woman, a journalist, a mother and I am happy with my legs. Sometimes I publish them on social networks. This is Kiev 2022”.
32 sets of walkie talkies
The chairman of the supervisory board, which deals with ethical issues, understands the concerns, but does not want to condemn the Fifth Channel. “After the February 24 raid, I became softer on certain things. Now there are more important things in Ukraine and in the world.” And what does Ostapa personally think about this? “He made me laugh. I’d buy one to support our army.”
When Kelboes and Miroshnichenko have completed their defense, a full load of brown cardboard boxes is being transported: 32 sets of walkie-talkies for the army. They were purchased from the more than 25,000 euros that the calendar has already raised.
