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On March 15, another presidential election will be held in Russia. The appropriateness of such "elections" without intrigue raises questions even among the most ardent Z-patriots. However, despite this, the Kremlin continues to invest resources in the "voting" advertising campaign, which, in particular, is planned to be held also in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, veiledly campaigning for one candidate. Russian authorities involved several Russian celebrities in achieving this goal, finally drawing a clear line between "patriots" and "traitors". In this analysis, we retrospectively discuss how the election process was intertwined with Russian pop culture in the past years, under what conditions it was done so, exactly which stars agreed to be part of the Russian propaganda machine, which cultural products contain direct and subtle propaganda, and with the help of which tactics the key propaganda messages can be revealed.
The eternal question: vote or lose
This was the slogan used by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation for voting in the 1996 presidential elections. Even then, thanks to administrative resources, they actively, but veiledly, campaigned for the then still active but very unpopular president Boris Yeltsin. Political technologists had an almost unrealistic task, according to his then political technologists, to re-elect Yeltsin, and this was impossible without a high turnout of young people. Therefore, the campaign organizer at the time, Sergey Lisovsky, decided to take the election process into the country’s pop culture scene. For this, Russia’s then-authorities used the experience of Bill Clinton's victorious 1992 election campaign with the slogan Choose or Lose.
These elections became a starting point in the close union of "elections" in Russia and its "pop scene". In 1996, Russins created avant-garde video clips for campaigning, in which they promoted the idea that the absence of people in the elections would mean either a return to the USSR, the introduction of censorship, or other horrors of the ineffectiveness of democratic expression of will, which looks quite ironic for modern Russia. Such allusions are not accidental since the then-main opponent of Yeltsin in those elections was the head of the Russian Communists, Gennady Zyuganov. As part of this election campaign, Russian authorities organized a concert tour across the country with the participation of such performers and bands as Tetyana Ovsienko, Alla Pugacheva, Lev Leshchenko, Mikhail Boyarskyi, Lada Dance, "Alisa", "Va-Bank", "Chaif", and others. The performer Sergey Minaev even recorded a whole music album with songs like "Boris, fight!". A separate TV channel, Muz-TV, was created to broadcast these concerts and music videos, which still operate in Russia. The strategy worked —Yeltsin was re-elected.
After these events, the Russian pop culture scene was again used for the elections in 2008, when several Russian celebrities (about sixty thousand people), led by Nikita Mikhalkov, signed an appeal in support of the then-main candidate Dmitry Medvedev. Subsequently, in 2012, already for Putin's re-election, a separate "pop-stars force" (Star Troopers) was created, which consisted of the proxies of the political candidates. These included Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, actress Chulpan Khamatova, chanson player Sergey Trofimov, actor Oleg Tabakov, folk singer Nadezhda Babkina, and figure skater Tatiana Navka.
In 2018, the Russian regime created the so-called "Putin's Team" specifically for the elections. It included such artists as singer Nyusha, comedian Mikhail Galustyan, gymnast Elena Isinbayeva, singer Nikolay Rastorguev, singer Polina Gagarina, figure skater Yevgeny Plushenko, singer Nikolay Baskov, and others. During those elections, the pop scene began to be "incorporated" into the presidential elections in Russia once again. In particular, a video of the local Central Election Commission (CEC), with the participation of pro-government actor Sergey Burunov, about the "horrors" that will come if one doesn't come to the elections went viral. The clip mentioned the "threat" of forced mobilization and "gays on remand". TV channels from Gazprom Media Group, STS, and TNT broadcasted other videos with the participation of the stars of their series and entertainment programs, in which they also campaigned to vote. Even bloggers were involved. At that time, the famous rapper Liszka recorded the track "Lizzka for President", where she campaigned to vote for Putin. Unobtrusive advertising of one candidate against another is a characteristic feature of these campaign events both then and now. Immediately after the election results were announced, a "concert rally" was held in Luzhniki, the largest stadium in the country, where "Star Troopers" performed. Then, the crowd first heard the song "Vladimir Putin is a good man!" by one of the Russian kids.
In this context, it is also possible to mention the campaign to vote for amendments to the Russian Constitution in 2020. At that time, the CEC and pro-government political technologists, in addition to videos about the "risk" of adopting orphans by gays, confusion with passport changes, and the open promotion of alcoholism and sexism, broadcast videos with such celebrities as actor Georgy Dronov, Andrey Rozhkov, Sergey Bezrukov, Ivan Okhlobystin, and TV presenter Elena Letucha. In addition, there was another attempt to create viral content for young people with the introduction of the rapper Pasha Technik and his colleagues Jaro and Hanz, a collaboration called "Historical Whore". In particular, the text contains such examples of the richness of the Russian language and culture as "to change so to change", "girls should be banned from wearing swimming trunks in the swimming pool", and "the law on brain rape should be written into the Constitution before it's too late." The performer himself admitted at the time that it was produced with state funds. For 2024, Kremlin political technologists have also prepared to use Russia’s pop scene in elections, especially in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
"Naked party" as a pre-election technology
In recent years, one can observe a split between Russian celebrities regarding the topic of war. Among them were active Z-patriots, who believed that all the resources of the "cultural front" should be redirected to help the Russian troops while giving up fun, laughter, and dancing. For example, the propagandist Shaman did not just politicize his creativity (in his songs, he raised topics "beneficial" to the authorities), but, even more, directly engaged in politics: he became Putin's confidant in these elections. Some expressed open support for the so-called "special military operation" (SMO) but had a different creative approach, keeping joyful songs in their repertoire or not touching on acute social themes in their work. Some remained silent all this time and earned money at concerts in Russia, repeating the mantra about "art outside of politics." However, some performers openly opposed the "special military operation". Being in the latter category meant that such individuals' appearances in the federal information space were effectively ceased. But it seemed unfair to the former category [supporters of the war] that the state continued to take no action against those who opted out [of supporting war]. Among those pop stars who initially spoke out against SMO, some failed to become applicable outside this particular information environment, so they looked for ways to "start with a clean slate" and agree to the terms of the authorities. A clear example is the Russian band "Komsomolsk", which initially spoke out against the war and, after the cancelations of their concerts, declared that it had "made its choice" and performed in the temporarily occupied Melitopol. This example illustrates how the authorities punished the lack of an active, loyal position and how this allowed them to use show business as part of the election campaign.
Such an occasion was the "naked party" held in Moscow in December 2023 with an almost naked dress code. According to primary sources, it was organized by blogger Nastya Ivleeva, but as per the Z-patriots, in reality, it was arranged by structures related to the MTS mobile operator, which allegedly wanted to promote a new video platform. It was attended by celebrities such as Lolita, rapper Vacio, Filip Kirkorov, Anna Asti, Ksenia Sobchak, and others. In addition, persons close to the Russian government were also invited, such as the vice president of MTS and high-ranking officials from VK and Yandex companies. According to the party’s concept, the event was private. Sources have reported that even the employees of the Mutabor club, where the party was held, had their phones and cameras taken away. However, unexpectedly, for the organizers, many journalists came to the event.
After candid photos and videos from the event became public, complaints from the "concerned citizens", including veterans and film director Nikita Mikhalkov, reached the Presidential Administration. After that, the concerts of the performers mentioned above began to be canceled, their performances were cut from the New Year's Eve concerts, and some projects with their participation were urgently edited. Vacio, in particular, was arrested for "propaganda of homosexuality" due to a costume in the form of a ... sock on the genital organ. He referred to the decision of the Supreme Court of Russia, which shortly before these events recognized the LGBTQ+ movement as "extremist", and the participants of the event were added to the list of performers banned by the authorities. In Kirkorov's case, even though he called for "rallying for Putin" as early as mid-2023, he continued to fly to the United States for Madonna concerts and the Grammy Awards, which did not align with the government's narrative. Video messages with excuses that he "entered the wrong door" didn't help him eliminate the negative fleur from attending the party. As a result, the Kremlin, after a series of video appeals by the persons mentioned above, found a way to force them to compensate for the "moral damage" caused — by organizing touring trips to the temporarily occupied territories. From that moment, events such as Lolita's donations to the destroyed hospital, Kirkorov's speeches for the Russian military in Horlivka, and Ivleeva's laudatory publications about Putin with agitation in his support began.
Schrödinger's pro-Putin series
Russia's film industry is also steeped in propaganda for authorities, especially given that the Kremlin finances several of its projects. However, this time, the situation is somewhat more complicated.
Meduza media released an investigation, claiming that several films and TV series currently popular in Russia were allegedly created for Putin's presidential campaign in 2024. The "Slovo Patsana" [A Word of a Man] project attracts the most attention. According to the publication's informants, it was created to show how life in Russia became better after the 1990s thanks to Putin's policies. The series is about the gangster life of schoolchildren in one of the cities of the Russian hinterland. However, the persons involved in the production of this and other projects from the Meduza list, in the comments for the media, claimed that they either did not know about the project’s intentions or that the projects were created exclusively for the sake of commerce. For example, the Kremlin appropriated other people's achievements, establishing false connections to imitate its active work. It exemplifies how political technologists use cultural products for subtle campaigning for Putin.
Until YouTube is banned
Agitational propaganda does not shy away from involving representatives of the blogosphere in its campaigning. For example, showbiz columnist Alyona Zhigalova with the pseudonym "Alyona, Damn" (1.26 million subscribers on her YouTube channel), makes personal reviews of the "news" of the Russian pop scene, filled with propagandistic clichés. She constantly invites pro-Russian stars to her program and asks questions on the special military operation’s topics. Ani Lorak shared her answers to this topic after a long pause on Zhigalova’s channel. In another interview with producer Yana Rudkovskaya, at the beginning of the existence of her YouTube channel, in response to questions about the then battles between oligarch Usmanov and Navalny, she said that she chose Usmanov and Putin because, as a business person with him in power, she is confident in the future. There are several other showbiz YouTube channels, which were instrumentalized by Russian propaganda, but "Alona, Damn" is the largest of them in terms of its reach. A blogger with political leanings became especially active right now, all on the eve of the elections.
Unusual silence
This year's election campaign is especially peculiar, unlike previous years, where there was at least some imitation of competition. This year, apart from the trips of loyal celebrities to the temporarily occupied territories [of Ukraine], there is no such active campaigning by Putin's "competitors". Central Committee’s official slogan for the elections is: "Together we are strong. We vote for Russia." Meanwhile, it is happening in light of how the "administrations" in the temporarily occupied territories are forcing state employees to publish photos of their families from the polling stations on social networks as part of a "flash mob". The following question arises — why does Russia have elections at all? My colleagues aimed to research the matter in this analysis piece.
Silence is also a tactic in this campaign. There are no alternatives, and there is only one choice. In materials from local celebrities, one can find many Russian propaganda tactics, such as constant repetition of the same anti-Ukrainian theses or creation of false confirmations, such as "Putin is the one and only." Because of this, the role of pop culture should not be underestimated and perceived as irrelevant to disinformation research. After all, Russia's pop culture and politics have long been closely united. The situation with Russian show business is an example of this. Moreover, we hope it will serve as solid evidence for bringing people to justice. After all, fascist songs also served as proof of the regime being guilty during the Nuremberg Tribunal.
Image collage credits: Natalia Lobach
