Last week, representatives of the truck drivers came to see us at the ACF (Anti-Corruption Foundation), and together we discussed what else could be done to force the government to shut down the harmful and corrupt Platon system.
This was even before Putin’s live call-in show, where he lied shamelessly but clearly and unequivocally confirmed the Rotenberg family’s inalienable right to extract tribute from the people of the Russian Federation.
Platon will not be repealed. That means it is time for truck drivers and everyone who supports them to begin an open-ended campaign to raise the political price that Putin, the government, and United Russia must pay for their illegal, corrupt decision.
We have several ideas, and today I’d like to launch the simplest one to implement.
In 2013, I ran for mayor of Moscow, and our team used all kinds of campaign materials. A couple of months after the campaign, we conducted a special citywide poll to find out which forms of campaigning people remembered most.
The answer was unexpected: car stickers.
So. There are 2,000,000 heavy trucks in the country. Let’s say half of them are not on the road. That leaves 1,000,000. Let’s say another half are happy with Platon. That leaves 500,000. And another half are branded trucks (Magnit, Pyaterochka, etc.), where stickers are not really an option.
That leaves 250,000 vehicles and their drivers.
Here is the practical goal: to put a sticker on at least 100,000 vehicles that stirs hostility and a desire for retribution toward the social group of “Putin, United Russia members, and the Rotenbergs”.
Let these 100,000 vehicles travel the country’s roads, reminding tens of millions of citizens about corruption every day on the eve of the State Duma elections.
I consider this goal realistic. When I asked the truck drivers myself, “Can we distribute a couple of thousand?” they laughed and said, “We can distribute a couple hundred thousand.”
And we should not forget about passenger cars either—the Moscow poll showed that 70% of Muscovites support the truck drivers’ demands. I am sure the level of support in the regions is no lower.
We produced a test batch of stickers (many thanks to Nikolai Lyaskin), and they were a huge hit:
We know for certain that truck drivers are ready to put them on their vehicles, and they are asking for more options.
In a small test print run, one sticker costs about 100 rubles. In larger print runs, it would be around 40 rubles.
100,000 stickers = 4 million rubles. I have no doubt we can raise that amount, especially since this will be a decentralized process spread out over time. We will not order truly massive print runs, so they cannot be seized.
With that in mind, I am announcing a contest for the best truck-driver sticker design (in support of truck drivers). They are all different people: some want something more aggressive, others something milder. To make people more willing to use them, we need to offer both choice and quality.
The main goal: the sticker must raise the political price that the initiators and lobbyists of Platon will pay for what they have done. That means Putin himself, the Putin-Medvedev government, and the United Russia party (all the other parties have come out against Platon). The sticker must lower their ratings and support. The sticker must make clear that everyone who is against Platon and corruption is good and decent, while those who support Platon are a very, very bad person.
How exactly you do this is up to you. A slogan, a pictogram, an illustration, a subtle hint, a direct appeal. More restrained, less restrained. Polite humor, crude humor. Any approach is fine.
Keep in mind that there are 100,000 vehicles, and they are driven by very different people.
Technical requirements for designs eligible to enter the contest.
— Dimensions: 60×80 cm. The truck drivers themselves specified this size. — We would like submissions to include a JPG image 800 px wide, plus the original vector file in CMYK (preferably in one of these formats: .ai, .eps, .pdf). — If you really want to use raster graphics (a photograph, for example), then the source file must contain an image with a resolution of 300 dpi. In that case, we would like the source file in TIFF format, also with a CMYK color profile.
Send your submissions to design@fbk.info. ACF’s design department will select the 10–15 best entries, after which we will determine the winner by vote.
Prizes: first place — 50,000 rubles, second place — 30,000 rubles, third place — 20,000 rubles.
Submissions will be accepted until January 10. Take part. Let’s make sure Platon proves costly not only for truck drivers.