Ukraine’s postal service cancels Valentine’s ad campaign after backlash
Photo: Rikky Hype

Ukrposhta has terminated its cooperation with the clothing brand Rikky Hype after their joint advertising campaign sparked a backlash on social media.

On February 6, Ukrposhta and Rikky Hype launched the "Love Mail" project ahead of Valentine’s Day on February 14. The initiative aimed to revive the culture of handwritten letters and evoke memories of school-time valentines. As part of the campaign, Rikky Hype stores in Kyiv and Dnipro planned to install special mailboxes allowing customers to send valentines using exclusive stamps and envelopes.

However, promotional photographs for the campaign triggered criticism online. In particular, one image showing a model standing at a blackboard in a miniskirt was perceived by some users as inappropriate and caused public outrage.

Initially, Ukrposhta CEO Ihor Smelyansky defended the collaboration, describing the criticism on social media as hypocritical. However, on February 10, he announced that the company had changed its position.

"Cooperation with the clothing brand has been terminated as of today," Smelyansky said. "This does not mean that Ukrposhta will refuse cooperation with this or other youth brands in the future. On the contrary, we plan to expand our target audience."

Smelyansky acknowledged that the publication was a personal mistake, admitting that the team failed to take into account the "sensitive context," including the recent release of the Epstein files in the United States and public discussions around proposed changes to legislation on the legal age of marriage.

"Society is extremely exhausted by the war, which translates into aggression on social media as the most accessible way to release tension," Smelyansky wrote on Facebook.

While the controversy began on social media, he stressed that the decision to terminate the partnership was made following consultations with experts rather than under pressure from online aggression or hate.

"My sincere apologies to everyone for whom our insensitivity on this issue became a painful reminder of the problem. And to those who have been working systematically on this topic — thank you for drawing attention to it and explaining where we went wrong," Smelyansky wrote.

  • Earlier, on February 2, just days before the Rikky Hype controversy, Ukrposhta also unveiled a new logo, which likewise drew criticism from social media users.