Censorship in Russia is very strong. A large percentage of the Russian population has a very limited view of what is happening in Ukraine. They’ve been led to believe that believe the catastrophe in Ukraine is overrated, refusing the truth of all the photos of destroyed houses and cities. When Airbnb and Booking left Russia, Kiev agency Bickerstaff saw an opportunity to show Russian people the truth. The agency created a tourism campaign for Ukraine right now.
Bickerstaff.734’s campaign begins with a website imitating Airbnb’s, created with the support of the State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine (SATD) and featuring unusual tourist locations. Among the locations are ruined apartments, which it offers for relaxation.
When anyone books an apartment, they are presented with an offer that leads to a Telegram bot account with the truth about the war in Ukraine. Included in the campaign are two parody tourism videos and a series of mock banner ads.
“Just a month ago, a huge number of people in Russia travelled, booked tickets and accommodation in various countries. During the war in Ukraine, Russia managed to achieve a lot, for example, complete isolation, the departure of such services as Booking and Airbnb. It is about the isolation that we wanted to cover in this campaign,” stated Ilia Anufrienko, founder and creative director of Bickerstaff.734.
The impetus for the creation of the campaign was Airbnb suspended Russian operations. The company has been vocal in its support of Ukraine. It suspended all operations in Russia and Belarus, and also stopped users of the home rental site from both countries from making any bookings, at the beginning of March.
Ilia Anufrienko added, “The Russian government proudly talks about sugar prices that will be restored soon and everything will be fine, but who and how will restore the opportunity for Russians to see something else, not only Kamenogorsk and Saratov? If the Russians don’t want to be isolated and bottled up in their destruction and aggression, it’s important to know the truth about this war and start resisting the regime.”
