““It’s not always blood and death.” The 3rd OSHBr explained the idea of advertising with models October 15, 00:41 Share: New advertising of the 3rd OSHBr with models (Photo: shalmaza / Instagram) The creative team of the 3rd separate assault brigade explained the purpose of the new advertising campaign with models, which caused outrage among some users social network, in an interview with The Washington Post. The newspaper reminds that more than 130 brigades can now search”, — write on: ua.news
New advertisement of 3 OShBr with the participation of models (Photo: shalmaza / Instagram)
In an interview with The Washington Post, the creative team behind the 3rd Special Assault Brigade explained the purpose of a new ad campaign featuring models that has sparked outrage among some social media users.
The newspaper reminds that more than 130 brigades can now look for new recruits directly, without turning to territorial recruiting centers. The 3rd assault brigade decided to appeal to Ukrainian civilians and show what kind of fighters they could become if they voluntarily joined the “best combat unit” in Ukraine, writes WP.
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“This is a modern war that requires us to be more open-minded. We need to commercialize and sell the idea that being in the army is cool,” said Khrystyna Bondarenko, head of the public relations service of the 3rd OShBr.
WP reminds that the 3rd OShBr offers everyone a test week, as well as an intensive 30-day training program for new recruits. The efforts of the brigade pushed other units to introduce innovations and friendly “competition”.
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The first advertising campaign of the 3rd OShBr took place in March 2023, and five commanders of the unit took part in it. They were skeptical, but agreed to a photo shoot in the basement of a factory near the front line. For advertising, the commanders revealed their faces to demonstrate transparency and trust, writes WP.
According to Bondarenko, the campaign helped the brigade receive 150 to 200 applications per day. She called it a success, although only one out of ten applicants was accepted into the unit.
In the second campaign, the fighters of the 3rd OShBr faced the Russian military in the guise of zombies. In the third campaign, defenders sat in lounge chairs and controlled drones against a blue sky.
For a new advertising campaign, the 3rd OShBr decided to experiment with new images and connect them with historical themes, and involved pin-up models.
Journalists visited a photo shoot with a model sitting on the hood of a Humvee and a serviceman in a Hawaiian shirt washing the car with a sponge. The fighter was seriously wounded in Bakhmut and Avdiivka and underwent rehabilitation in Kyiv, after which he will return to the front.
“We wanted to bring some light mood. People think it’s some trick to drag you into a brigade, give you a bayonet and send you to fight in the trenches. We wanted to say that war is not always blood and death or fighting. Sometimes you just relax and study,” chief designer Dmytro told reporters.
By the beginning of October, the advertisement appeared all over Ukraine and received mixed reviews. One user on X called it “disgusting”, but another Facebook user posted a photo of the advertising banner on the highway and signed “I love the Third Assault Brigade. I love every unit that keeps this cold fall sky above us.”
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“Yes, war is terrible. We do not romanticize that you will kill the enemy, but we do romanticize that you will have good memories after the war. You will have friends, you will have connections, you will have many things. We have to balance it,” said art director of the 3rd OShBr Vlad Kulyk.