WSJ - Free Evan
Who?
Evan is a Wall Street Journal reporter who was detained in Russia in March 2023, while doing his job as a journalist. He was freed Aug. 1, 2024, as part of the largest and most complex East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War. He is the American-born son of Soviet-era emigres to the US, learning Russian from his parents and building a career as a journalist focused on the region.
Why?
He was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service in the city of Yekaterinburg while on a reporting assignment in the country. He was accused of espionage, making him the first American detained on such an allegation since the Cold War. Evan, his family, the Journal and the US government vehemently denied these allegations.
How?
Shortly after Evan’s illegal detention, my previous agency stepped in as an interim stopgap while the WSJ conducted an extended search for a permanent US-based advertising agency. We were engaged to support them with marketing collateral. In addition to this, we proposed a new type of creative that emphasised Evan’s continued absence: a strategy that was continued by their subsequent agency, Mother.
The Big Idea
We presented The WSJ with a number of creative executions. But the overriding creative idea was to flip the script from ‘keeping the memory of Evan alive through heartwarming stories to ‘keeping the memory of Evan alive through a sense of absence and loss’.
Evans Absence
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Continued Work
We created a number of assets for this heart-rending campaign, with a definite style and strategy that was continued by the WSJ's new agency, Mother, once our contract had finally ended.
The Results
After nearly 16 months of detention in some of Russia’s most notorious prisons, Even Gershkovich was finally released on 1st August 2024, in what has been described as largest and most complex East-West prisoner swap since the end of the Cold War.
