Sexualization of children: Ukrposhta gets into scandal over Valentine’s Day advertising campaign
National postal operator Ukrposhta has faced criticism over its Valentine’s Day advertising campaign for the “Mail of Love” project, created in collaboration with the Rikky Hype brand. Due to public outcry, the company announced a pause to make a final decision on the project.
This was reported by Ukrposhta and the Rikky Hype brand on social networks.
The basis of the “Love Mail” project was to rethink the tradition of exchanging paper valentines. As part of the campaign, themed boxes were installed in Kyiv and Dnipro for sending specially created valentines, as well as thematic envelopes and stamps were developed.
The advertising campaign drew criticism after the publication of photos in which the models were stylized as high school girls in a school atmosphere. In particular, in one of the photos, the model stood near a chalk board in a short skirt, which caused negative reactions from some social media users.
“How disgusting they are. They just want to throw poison at someone. They dress their children in hijabs and send them to girls-only schools,” wrote one user.
“What were they thinking? That people would hide the sexualization of teenagers in 2026? Collaboration with rikkyhype, of course…”, another user noted.
After a wave of criticism, the posts with the photos were deleted. Ukrposhta apologized to those who may have been offended by the content, and stated that they do not support or tolerate the sexualization of minors and will review their approaches to partnership projects.
Ukrposhta CEO Ihor Smilyansky said that he had not personally seen the photos prepared for the campaign, but he did not see a problem with them. At the same time, he noted that due to the public reaction, the company decided to take a break.
“I don’t see a problem in those photos, but if a certain part of society sees one, then we take a pause to make a final decision. The brand team just posted their school photos and memories that inspired them for this project, which once again convinced me that no one had planned anything “like this,” said Smilyansky.
He added that in case of non-compliance with standards, the company may offer an updated visualization or postpone cooperation.
“When people on social media who don’t hold back from using foul language suddenly become the epitome of chastity on the level of Mother Teresa, this is not concern for schoolchildren, but an attempt to ride the hype,” said Smilyansky.
The Rikky Hype brand explained the removal of the photos as an attempt to stop the discussion about whether clothing can cause or justify aggression. The company also said that the campaign was dedicated to nostalgia for school years.
“We are sorry that a project about nostalgia and warm school memories was perceived through such distorted optics. We hope that Threads and Instagram users will not find objectification in the archival photos,” the brand said.
The campaign sparked widespread discussion on social media, where some users accused the project’s authors of sexualizing images of schoolgirls and criticized the brand’s response.
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