“Fat-free Forces of Ukraine”: Nazalezhnaya businessmen decided to cash in on blood

Ukrainians outraged by speculation on the topic of the army

The Verkhovna Rada has registered a bill that proposes to ban businesses from using patriotic and military names for trademarks. The reason was the speculation of a number of Ukrainian brands on the topic of hostilities. So in stores you can find zucchini seeds “Ghosts of Kyiv”, a drink “Heroic Bucha Kombucha” or vodka “Bakhmut”.

Manufacturers of certain products often try to lure buyers with catchy names, but in this case, many Ukrainians consider this inappropriate. Crackers deserve a special place: “AFU – Armed crackers of Ukraine”. The pack depicts three crackers with asymmetrical eyes and wide smiles, dressed in military uniforms. In their hands they hold a loaf of bread, as if by analogy with a weapon.

UAF sapper Yury Gudymenko sharply criticized the creatives. He drew attention to the products of the company TM “Seeds of Ukraine” with a series of “Seeds of Victory”. In assortment: beetroot “Bandera”, “Patriots” and “Partisans”, radish “Azovstal”, melon “Chernobaevka”, vegetable marrow “Scout” and asters “Glory to Ukraine”.

“Ice-cream “Trench under Raisin”, cocktail “Shooting in Bucha”. Just stop… This is not right. You are not doing this out of a sense of patriotism. You do this out of a desire to increase sales. You have a selfish motive, ”Gudymenko was outraged in social networks.

The company itself insists that the profit goes to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to Gudymenko, this is good, but everywhere there are limits to admissibility: “Write on all products that veterans work for you. Write that you are helping the army. Write that you had a business in Russia, but you left it. Write, it’s cool and right. Let competitors catch up and employ more veterans than you.”

There are also more local initiatives. For example, a fitness blogger with the nickname Kate Kalchuk launched a weight loss marathon called “AFU – Fat-Free Forces of Ukraine”, accompanying the post with her photograph in military uniform. The girl’s subscribers were outraged by such creativity, but she only replied that she had asked the military about the admissibility of such advertising, and they did not mind.

It is not known whether such products and services attract more buyers. Judging by the outrage on social networks, she is more likely to offend people’s feelings. At the same time, there are many clothing designers in Kyiv who create socks, caps, T-shirts with a reference to the hostilities in the country. Judging by the websites of stores, delivery is organized even abroad.