"Complete Russophobes, aren't you ashamed?" A Belarusian brand wanted to sell anti-war T-shirts to Russians in emigration — and here's what happened

T-shirt "Anti-tank D*ck". Photo: znivien.pl

"The idea seemed hyper-logical"

The Znivien brand was launched in 2021. Designer Uladzimir Maliauka was still living in Belarus at the time — he contacted his friend Pavel Dzerkach in Poland so that he could start producing T-shirts. They chose a month as the brand's name, which "became a starting point for many Belarusians."

One of their most famous prints is "Anti-tank D*ck": a word formed from anti-tank "hedgehogs" (obstacles), which is read as a clear anti-war statement. And the brand decided to offer this print not only to Belarusians but also to Russians.

"The naive, but logical idea was that there is a large number of Russians or Russian-speaking people in the world who, at the very least, do not support the war and therefore left for other countries. I myself have many Russian acquaintances who are pro-Ukraine and do not live in Russia," says Uladzimir Maliauka, founder of Znivien, to "Nasha Niva."

Next — a purely business calculation:

"The second idea was purely entrepreneurial, business-oriented: if there are many of them, a certain conversion to sales can be expected. Especially since we already worked with this print with one of the representatives of the Russian opposition emigration — actor Aleksey Panin. He responded instantly, posting photos in our T-shirt."

Павялічыць

As a result, according to Maliauka, "the idea of trying to work with a new audience seemed hyper-logical."

The team gathered a database of 50-60 Facebook groups like "Russians in America," "Our People in Mexico," "Our People in France" and proceeded with a mass mailing.

The text was simple:

"This is not just a T-shirt, it's a strong anti-war statement. "Anti-tank D*ck" — for those who don't want to be silent."

Павялічыць

The calculation was simple: if the message is universal, it should "land well." And that's where the most interesting part began.

"Against which war?"

The audience's reaction turned out to be cold and aggressively skeptical.

"To whom is this anti-tank d*ck addressed? What is its message?"

Павялічыць

"This smells not of anti-war themes, but of anti-Russian or Russophobic ones... Does the author really want a Russian person who buys this T-shirt to wear the word "d*ck" on themselves, thinking it's against the war? Complete Russophobes, aren't you ashamed?"

Павялічыць

"Advertising should be understandable. If not — what was the point?"

Павялічыць

"War propaganda! Do you want to continue the war?"

Павялічыць

"Looks like the name of the T-shirt owner."

Павялічыць

"Unfortunately, Americans won't be able to read this Cyrillic — and that won't stop them from bombing other countries."

"Against which war?", — indignant users wrote in the comments.

Павялічыць

"I've never seen so much negativity"

Uladzimir Maliauka himself doesn't hide: the scale of the reaction surprised him. He notes that people were triggered not only by the form (the word "d*ck"), but also by the message itself.

"I'm a realist: not everyone has to like the design. You can't expect people who have never heard of Znivien to suddenly immediately like a print called "Anti-tank D*ck," where essentially the word D*CK is written on your chest, on your T-shirt, only composed of anti-tank hedgehogs.

There was also a reaction to the message itself; some were triggered by the expression D*CK, familiar to the Russian ear, while others were offended that they supposedly had to wear these three letters on their chest.

In all my experience with such cold mailings, I have never received so many negative comments as precisely among the Russian community. So there's something to think about here," says Uladzimir Maliauka.

And he adds ironically:

"There are three things you can watch endlessly: how fire burns, how water flows, and how Russians who have moved far from their homeland love Russia and Putin. The reaction is very telling. If you scratch beneath the surface — there's some kind of "Great Russia" where Russians are the end and beginning of all humanity."

However, he emphasizes: drawing conclusions about everyone based on Facebook groups is a mistake.

"Of course, the percentage of adequacy in these Facebook groups approaches one (meaning, it's very low), and one should not judge all people in emigration by this experiment.

But it can be stated unequivocally: Belarusians and Russians have different cultural backgrounds, different contexts for relocation, departure, and self-awareness in this world. Good Russians exist, they are like truffles — somewhere deep down and don't show themselves," says Uladzimir Maliauka.

Earlier, Znivien had already tried to reach another audience — the Ukrainian one:

"Two or three years ago, we decided that we could try to work with the Ukrainian audience: we adapted the prints "My Native Corner," translated them into Ukrainian, and started making them with Ukrainian cities.

But it's important to understand: competition hasn't been canceled, even in emigration. You're not just competing with T-shirts on Ukrainian themes; you generally have to prove to a person that they should buy our T-shirt, and not any other online."

As a result, the brand notes: even if people live in the same emigration, it doesn't make them "one audience."

"There's also a more complex point. I call it the context of emigration. We already understand what is important to us, Belarusians, what points evoke a response and emotion in us. But this doesn't work with the Ukrainian audience simply because the reason for leaving the country is completely different, and the nostalgia for their homeland is also different. One thing is important to them, another to us," reflects Uladzimir Maliauka.

Nevertheless, the brand does not abandon the idea of reaching out to Russians in emigration:

"We are a business; we always need to look for directions and opportunities within some permissible frameworks. For example, there will be a festival in Warsaw where our Belarusian stars will perform alongside Russians who have fled the war. At the very least, we need to work with those Russians who will be on stage.

I understand that many see some betrayal or something else when a "good Russian" appears near something Belarusian, but there's no need to panic."

"This is not a failure"

Despite the lack of sales, Uladzimir Maliauka does not consider the story a failure.

"Analysis is one of the components of marketing, so let's consider the hypothesis to be worked out, and the time not wasted. You have to get the most out of any situation. Look, I even got more: the posts gained traction, a lot of comments appeared, the post generated media interest. Thanks to the "good Russians," even more excellent Belarusians — our very own audience — learned about us. Is that bad? On the contrary, it's an excellent result," notes Uladzimir Maliauka.

And he adds: experiments will continue:

"There are still many more. For example, we sent a T-shirt to Ivan Dorn, but he didn't pick it up from the post office.

Finally, I appeal to readers: don't be afraid to experiment; at the very least, you'll have something to tell people."

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