The head of Russia’s private military firm says the risk marketing campaign is a ‘really good idea’
Russian group Wagner bought an ad on Pornhub, urging users of the massive porn site to join the “the coolest private army in the world.” The military company recently expanded its recruiting efforts as it fights to take a key city in Donbass.
Spotted by Russian Telegram users earlier this week, the ad features a woman suggestively licking a lollipop as a female voice invites viewers to sign up with Wagner. It would have been visible only to those accessing the site from Russia.
“We are the coolest fucking private army in the world. We recruit fighters from all regions of Russia. Don’t run away – go work for PMC Wagner”, says the announcement in Russian, before a phone number appears on the screen.
Asked about the salacious promotional video, Wagner band leader Evgeny Prigozhin later appeared to confirm the ad was genuine.
“I don’t know which ones, but advertising PMC Wagner on porn sites is a very good idea from our marketers”, he said quoted by its press service. “I absolutely agree with them, and this ad says, ‘Go fight in Wagner’s PMC, stop jerking off.’ Who disagrees with this argument?
While it’s unclear how long the ad stayed alive, Pornhub said it was deleted of the site on Wednesday, telling Newsweek that it had violated its policy against politically oriented ads.
In addition to its ad campaign on the world’s largest porn site, Wagner has expanded its recruiting campaign in other ways in recent weeks, announcing the creation of 42 new convenience centers across Russia earlier this month.
Wagner played an important role in the ongoing Russian military operation in Ukraine and is currently involved in fierce fighting to capture the strategic city of Artyomovsk (also known as Bakhmut in Ukraine) in the Donbass region.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky promised to reinforce the city, despite reports that it is largely surrounded by Wagnerian troops and Russian regular forces. He had previously warned that if Artyomovsk came under full Russian control, it would leave an “open road” to other parts of the region still held by kyiv.
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