New trick to get more volunteers: Advertising with happy girlfriends and intimate scenes
Last spring, Ukraine’s new mobilization law came into effect. The hope is that the new law will provide an increase in soldiers.
The age of compulsory mobilization was lowered from 27 to 25, and all Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 were required to provide the military with their personal information. Ukrainians who are abroad may also be called in.
However, the new law is not the only tool used in Ukraine to attract more people to the military. Ukrainians can apply directly to a specific brigade, and do not have to go through any of the national recruitment centers. This has led to some of the country’s over 130 brigades investing both money and resources in trying to recruit new soldiers outside the recruitment centers.
One of the brigades that are themselves trying to reach new soldiers is the third assault brigade, which, among other things, drew attention in connection with the battles for Bachmut. The brigade also has a department of around 20 people who work on creating advertising and materials to attract new recruits, which has also inspired others to follow suit.
– This is a modern war that requires us to be more open, says Khrystyna Bondarenko, head of the 3rd Assault Brigade’s media department to the Washington Post.
“Does not romanticize killing the enemy”
On social media, along the roads and inside cities, posters with calls to join the brigade can be seen. Their marketing has been described as pioneering in trying to get Ukrainian men to join voluntarily.
In a film that received over 100,000 views in just one week, a man from the brigade is seen cleaning his weapon and driving around with his girlfriend in a military vehicle. Together they fire a weapon, interspersed with several intimate scenes.
– We do not romanticize that you will kill the enemy, we romanticize that you will have good memories after the war. You will have friendships, you will have connections, you will have a lot. We have to balance it, says the brigade’s art director Vlad Kulyk.
The brigades have a common goal
The first campaigns were launched in March and reportedly resulted in around 200 applications, although only a few resulted in soldiers being recruited to the brigade.
– You have to be out there marketing. You need to be digital and target people on social media. You need to reach bloggers and vloggers that they listen to and you need to be on Tiktok. There are many ways, so really it’s not very different from other marketing, Volodymyr Degtyarov, PR manager for the 13th Assault Brigade, told AFP.
He describes how the brigades are not working against each other, but against a common enemy and that the competition for new recruits can be good for everyone.
– The latest campaign from the third assault brigade I think is close to the limit. No other brigade has done something so brave to reach out, says Volodymyr Degtyarov.