The official political advertising campaign is now in full swing, and what do we see? In short: nothing new. Even though the campaign only officially began on October 17, we currently have pretty much the same players that were already advertising: Tymoshenko, Yanukovych, Yatsenyuk and Tyhypko are all still leading advertisers. In fact, even the advertisements themselves are practically the same.

Poor dynamics and unchanging imagery

Other political players were expected to join the campaign immediately including the Communists, the Agrarians, the Socialists and President Yushchenko himself, but by the second week of November there was still no sign of them on the country’s billboards. More than 2 months remain before the first round of voting on January 17, so it is possible that new candidates will start advertising later in the race. In all likelihood, any campaigns they start will also be hashed-over versions of the vaguely familiar.

The outdoor advertising campaign has been notable for a lack of message dynamics. It is general practice during election campaigns to moderate and develop political messages on a weekly or bi-weekly basis in order to respond to the dialogue of the election campaign. In the 2010 campaign radio advertisements have so far proved the most responsive medium to the public mood, with messages based on current topics of public debate and concern. Outdoor advertising, meanwhile, has been dominated by static designs, while print advertising has so far hardly been utilized at all, though flyers are being passed out liberally.

At present a major feature of the advertising campaign appears to be the relationship between any given candidate and the owner of the media outlets through which the candidate is advertising. For instance, Yulia Tymoshenko’s advertising campaign seems to be concentrated on TV channel 1+1, of which her ally Igor Kolomoiskiy is a major shareholder and on RTM billboard company. Meanwhile, Victor Yanukovich’s TV campaign is being focused on Inter, a channel allegedly tied to forces opposed to Tymoshenko. The political power of media ownership in Ukraine is evident throughout the campaign and will no doubt remain so once the new president is in office.  

Campaign frontrunners opting for tailored regional ads

Some localization of advertising campaigns has also been witnessed for specific regions while there have also been numerous incidents of vandalism of nearly all the leading candidates’ billboards throughout the country. Unlike previous campaigns, messages in local markets can be very focused and are often tailor-made to such local tastes and prejudices. For instance, in Luhansk Oblast Yulia Tymoshenko congratulated miners on their “Miner’s Day” holiday. Key demographics are also not being overlooked by the PM, who also recently issued ads congratulating Ukraine’s student population on the start of the new academic year. Local advertising for Party of Regions leader Yanukovych which has appeared in Odessa Oblast features highway-style ‘Stop’ signs imposed over an Orange Revolution-era image of Vitkor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko. Meanwhile, in Western Ukraine, Mr. Yanukovych is depicted alongside members of the Hutsuls, an ethnic minority from the Carpathians.

Crimea has seen probably the campaign’s most controversial local advertising, all of which has been prominently displayed in the Russian language (possibly in violation of Ukrainian laws on advertising). The most pointed of the many controversial campaign posters to have appeared in Crimea was one bearing the legend: “Hello Russia, Good-bye NATO”, also probably in violation of Ukrainian election and advertising laws. This shift towards locally coordinated regional campaigns is something new in Ukrainian electioneering. In previous campaigns all the leading candidates’ campaigns have been coordinated by a central HQ.

Disillusioned by democracy: Political vandalism on the rise

The 2010 campaign has also witnessed a rise in the number of billboards being vandalized. This year’s election race has provoked more acts of vandalism against outdoor advertising than any other in the country’s brief independent history, hinting at a growing disdain for Ukraine’s political classes. In Zhytomyr, Cherkassy, Sumy, Kyiv and other cities almost all candidates have had their posters shot at with paintballs in what appears to be a new national pastime. All the major candidates have also experienced graffiti and expletives scrawled onto their posters, while one guerilla campaign even went so far as to stick questions addressed to each candidate on their advertisements. For instance, a sticker which appeared on many of Tyhypko’s billboards asked: “After the Orange Revolution you fled the country; how can you now call yourself strong?”

She works: the catchphrase that launched a cottage industry

Parody advertisements have also been a particular feature of the 2010 race for the presidency. Tymoshenko’s ‘She’ campaign and its “Ukraine is working” catchphrase have spawned a cottage industry of spin offs, from anti-Tymoshenko staples such as: “The Crops are Rotting, She is working” or “I will win, let her work,” to the many companies who are now cheekily using the colouring and wording of Tymoshenko’s campaign to promote their own services under the banner headline ‘We are working!’ One Kyiv photographer captured the mood recently with a brief internet resume with stated: “They talk, She works, I Photograph.”

Interestingly, fake Arseniy Yatsenyuk posters have also been put up on some billboards depicting the candidate in a very unfavourable light and associating him with totalitarianism. The posters are of dubious origin and content, with some industry insiders speculating that the candidate put the ads up himself as a stunt since the main contenders do not see him as real competition. Nevertheless, the appearance of these rogue Yatsenyuk posters in very much in line with the general trend which we are witnessing as the campaign unravels.

There has been surprisingly little advertising reaction so far to the flu mania which has gripped the country in recent weeks. Of all the leading candidates only Yatsenyuk has made any direct reference to healthcare in his outdoor advertising, though most candidates have made similar statements on radio.

All eyes of Yushchenko’s campaign

With more than two months still to go we can expect plenty more twists and turns in the campaign trail before the January vote. There will soon be more parties in the race and any one of a number of new candidates might introduce a new dynamic. Much attention will be focused on the forthcoming campaign of President Yushchenko, who despite fatally low approval ratings remains the incumbent.