The Lincoln Project UKRAINE Campaign: Fighting For Democracy At Home and Abroad

Social Content Series & Campaigns

After Russia launched its brutal war against Ukraine, The Lincoln Project’s strategists quickly identified the significance of this threat to global democracy. Without a forceful response from the international community, Russia would devastate Ukraine and be emboldened to further attack democracies around the world, and The Lincoln Project knew the American political support for Ukraine needed to be defined and strengthened. 

Our creative team’s campaign to educate the American public to the threat helped increase and create popular support for Ukraine. The videos used language and visuals to evoke the Cold War dangers that Baby Boomer and Generation X voters recall (Twilight Struggle), and to illustrate to every American the ongoing threat of Russia authoritarianism and aggression poses to the world. 

The Lincoln Project ads elevated President Biden (Red Phone, Serious Times) for successfully exerting international leadership, providing material and financial support to the Ukrainians, and making the moral stakes clear. The Lincoln Project also created an ad (Genocide) confronting Americans with the awful truth of Russian war crimes.

When Republicans threatened to shut off funding to the Ukrainian war effort if they controlled Congress, The Lincoln Project developed an ad (Ukraine) to directly tell Americans of Eastern European descent in swing states how the GOP was switching sides in the war to support the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

In the final weeks of the 2022 Midterms, our ad “Ukraine” was run to swing voters in four key states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Ohio. This audience was identified as someone who either indicated the war in Ukraine was a key concern; was of Ukrainian descent or spoke Ukrainian; had family or friends in Ukraine; or was concerned about die-hard Trump supporters’ effects on foreign policy. In total, we served this ad nearly 10 million times across two weeks, with completion percentages over 70% for a: 30 ad on pre-roll in both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, well over industry benchmarks.