MOSCOW, JUNE 1, 2021 — RT won two gold and five silver medals at this year’s Promax Europe Awards with its promos using deepfake videos of world leaders, a “propaganda” reel for the channel’s 15th anniversary, as well as projects dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
RT’s video using deepfake technology, They’re Crazy about Us, was declared a winner in the Best Use of Technology category. It presents a humorous vision of what leading politicians of the world might be discussing with their psychotherapists at a time when Russia's RT is getting ready to celebrate its 15th anniversary on air. The prominent figures confiding secrets to their therapists are Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel.
Another deepfake video, this one timed for the 2020 US presidential election, won silver in the Long-form Promotional Content category. This promo playfully speculates about what Donald Trump's job at the world-famous Russian news network might look like in the event he lost the election.
The Green Menace video, which instructed viewers on ways to keep themselves “safe” from RT’s influence, claimed silver in the Special Event Spot category. This short black-and-white clip was shot using 16mm film and was inspired by old US instructional films that taught American citizens about civil defense during the Cold War; it was made to celebrate 15 years of RT’s international broadcasting and the network’s success over that time.
Gold and silver in the Social Media Campaign For A Channel category were claimed by RT’s projects dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War and Second World War, #VictoryPages and ‘The Endless Letter’, respectively. Also, ‘The Endless Letter’, presenting a series of missives sent from the frontlines during the war and accompanying illustrations produced by professional graphic artists and students of arts, won silver in the Best Use Of Social Media For A Channel Or Brand category.
RT's project ‘War: Kids’ Drawings in VR Animation’ received silver in the Best Use of Technology category. The project presents a series of wartime children’s drawings reinterpreted by prominent VR animation artists.
‘The Endless Letter’ and ‘War: Kids’ Drawings in VR Animation’ projects are part of RT’s large-scale social media campaign #VictoryPages, which tells the story of the Great Patriotic War and World War II across five major new media and digital art platforms: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, VK and YouTube. It has already won recognition at the D&AD Awards, Webby Awards, Shorty Awards, Lovie Awards, Red Dot, Digiday, The Drum Awards for Online Media, ADC Awards, and in other international competitions.
Promax Europe Awards is a leading international awards event that seeks to honor achievements in the areas of promotion, marketing and design. RT’s creative projects have been distinguished with multiple Promax awards over the years. Among them are: a 2018 FIFA World Cup promo featuring celebrated football coach José Mourinho and prominent Russian athletes and ballet dancers; promos for cross-platform historical project #Romanovs100, the channel’s Never Giving Up promo featuring members of the Russian Paralympic team, RT’s 10th anniversary promos, and the network’s promo for the 70th anniversary Victory Day celebration.