Countering Communist ‘Language Barrier’ Anti-EU Ads

Whatever happened to “Workers of the world, unite”?

ЕС - плохая игра from Компартия on Vimeo.

“EU accession is a bad game. Even kids understand this.” 

That’s probably the one that makes the most sense. It combines both emotional and logical appeals, hinting at Ukraine's unequal bargaining power with the EU. OK, that’s a big one right there. Nice femdom angle! Of course, in reality, no one’s talking about accession. All we get, hopefully, is association. Well, that’s beside the point. Still, I’d make the Ukrainian boy and EU girl look like Yanukovych and Merkel, respectively, for comic effect.

But what’s with the girl? Why does she suddenly switch from *EU* to *Customs Union* mode? “Boy: Can I play with you now? Girl: Sure!” Whoa, are they about to play doctor in there? If so, isn’t it a bit downright gender-bender confusing? Considering that Putin is not a girl yet?

The rest of the collection looks like crap. Plain and simple. And instead of calling Commies on their crap, the opposition actually validates these ads. By trying to have them banned! Communist-style?

Brief Analysis
Message: “Didn’t get a word of this? Foreign language, foreign union! We speak one [the same] language [Russian]! The Customs Union.”
Target audience: Eastern Ukraine mostly, monolingual Russophones and surzhykophones
Appeal: Emotional, multilinguaphobic 

The opposition calls these manipulative. I call them masochistic.

English
Мы с вами говорим на одном языке. Английский from Компартия on Vimeo.

Ever wonder why so many rich Russians and Ukrainians are shipping their kids abroad and parking billions of dollars offshore? Maybe it's because they’re not buying any of this?

French
Мы с вами говорим на одном языке. Французский from Компартия on Vimeo.

As if France wasn’t so USSR-friendly during and after WW II and French movies weren't so popular around here in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

German
Мы с вами говорим на одном языке. Немецкий from Компартия on Vimeo.

Doesn’t Putin speak German and Merkel Russian?

Not to say there are no undercurrents to the EU Association Agreement and DCFTA. But these masterpieces don’t hold any water. And here’s how the opposition can turn Commie propaganda on its head. Lenin and Stalin loved kids, didn't they? GET THIS GIRL.



And this one too!


And use this English class movie scene!



It’s from “Guest from the Future,” a Soviet children’s/teen cult film of the 80s, the local mishmash equivalent of “Terminator” and “Back to the Future”. Take it and drive it home to Eastern Ukraine. Refresh their memory. Remind them of Alisa Selezneva. How she came from the bright Communist future of 2084 into the not-so-bright present of 1984. And how she surprised the hell out of her classmates with her English. “I’m not very gifted. I only speak eight languages,” she said. The Soviet kids of tomorrow were supposed to be THAT fluent in foreign languages.

Tomorrow is now.