Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

Arseniy Yatseniuk, the former Verkhovna Rada speaker, is promising to “Save The Country” in billboards launched throughout Kyiv. However, the obscurity of his face, the vagueness of the slogan and the black-and-brown color scheme has people dismayed. Yaroslav Debelyi Yatseniuk’s billboard campaign disappoints and is a sign of poor strategy.

I guess the advertising campaign of former Verkhovna Rada Speaker Arseniy Yatseniuk has started. I noticed his surprising billboards in the city center as I was going to work. I was shocked.

The problem is that Yatseniuk, by all criteria, should be my candidate. I was sure I was going to vote for him. I persuaded my acquaintances that he is what Ukraine needs. I was even trying to help and show initiative. I was reading all articles about him and visited his website every day.

But now I am baffled and I don’t know what to say. Or I feel like spitting. In any case, I cannot keep silent. I know something about advertising and I was sure that Yatseniuk’s advertising campaign would provide a breakthrough, would be a breath of fresh air, would give the nation an important event, would advance everything in politics to a new level. I thought it would be a healthy alternative to what’s going on around us.

But now I realize it’s not going to happen.

My hope is dead and it hurts.

Here’s my personal, extremely subjective and emotional perception. I am still slightly at a loss and don’t know where to start.

The color. Brown and black. The color of youth and freshness? Is it the color the younger part of the electorate likes and wants to choose? I mean those who are under 40? Am I dreaming to wear a t-shirt like that? I don’t want to be like a badly qualified psychologist here and discuss the color of fascism, feces and death. I am sure somebody will do it for me. I remember that initially khaki was used primarily for military purposes, to hide soldiers and important objects in the bushes. Well, it makes a wonderful move for an outdoor ad if it wants to blend into the surrounding background. A secret advertising campaign. Or was it an attempt to add some military might? I am not sure that a sleeveless sailor’s vest and boots make winning attire for Yatseniuk. No need to take the world ‘front’ so seriously. [Yatseniuk’s political party is called The Front of Change]. When former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell gave a speech in Kyiv once, he said that World War III got under way a long time ago. It’s an information and economic war. The times have changed. Are you still planning to set up field kitchens as an element of propaganda?

The font. It’s thin, fractured and stenciled. This is the style of 1970-80s, a ‘light retro’ style. Why this font? Is this an attempt to underline intelligence, softness and indecisiveness? Or is it an attempt to become likeable for the workers of former Soviet scientific and research institutes who used stencils for making wall newspapers and visual aids? I cannot understand it. I was promised a future, but the past is slipped in instead.

The name. What’s advertised on the billboards is the brand ‘Arseniy.’ I don’t know if that’s because of legal limitations to do with the presidential campaign, but ‘President Arseniy’ sounds really weird. What about ‘eau-de-cologne Arseniy?’ Perhaps with the aroma of meadow blooms? The name would look more organic in this sort of context. Also, the name is written at the very bottom of the [billboard’s] lights. I could not read it until I stopped the car.

The drawing. It seems that the artist was tasked with preparing an ad for a horror movie about a maniac where the main role was played by too refined an actor. His high forehead shows off the bald patch. His glasses blend with his eyebrows. Is this character likeable or attractive? Would I like to see him at home every day, from the screen of my TV? Moreover, the face almost blends into the background. By every law of outdoor advertising he has to be over-emphasized. Instead, he is hidden, as if they are embarrassed by him. This is complete nonsense.

The promise. “To save the country.” Well, well, at last! Somebody has decided to save it. Where do I vote? I am coming to check the box! I am sorry, but this is empty ‘blah-blah’! These words are as empty as an empty bucket. In the last seven years, I have heard them an infinite number of times. And now I cannot hear them any longer. I do not accept this promise. It’s empty noise. I hear no concrete answers to the question of how the country will be saved. What exactly is going to change and why? Saying that people are tired of empty promises is also an empty promise.

The general impression. As one of my friends said, this is beyond good and evil. My friend’s evaluation was that it’s “hellish crap.” Well, it’s his right. Everyone seems shocked, but the main thing for me is that this is no different from what politicians have done before. Same old, same old. The face. The name. An abstract slogan. It could have been written for Yulia Tymoshenko, Victor Yanukovych and Petro Symonenko, all with the same effect. Somebody should have worked on this advertising campaign from the moment Yatseniuk left the speaker’s seat. That’s nearly a year ago. If this is the limit of their imagination and professionalism, then I have no words to describe it except infinite disappointment. I don’t care who thought it up, but if this is the solution, it means it had to have been approved by the candidate. This choice was wrong. I don’t believe that these ads can change the country and people’s consciousness. I can bet a lot of money that elementary focus groups would tear this ad campaign to bits. What a present to his competitors, this turned out to be.

Devil’s advocate. I have been desperately trying to tell myself that I am biased, that my reactions are too stereotypical. I have tried to tell myself that this is just the beginning of the ad campaign, that this is a cunning maneuver and that, tomorrow, everything will start to bloom with color and joy. And all my questions will be answered. Maybe this is all a trick, when you first show how not to do something properly, just to attract attention, and then you show something completely different! Maybe it’s a bold and deep and dramatic move. I’d like to believe it! Arseniy Petrovych, my heart is still open. I am still waiting…


Andriy Fedoriv is the chief executive officer of SAHAR creative bureau and Karandash Design. He also teaches marketing and creativity at Kyiv-Mohyla Business School. He can be reached at a@fedoriv.com.