‘Your order will be delivered by a literature teacher.’ Behold the latest, weirdest ad campaign to hit Moscow. • Медуза • RIMA

‘Your order will be delivered by a literature teacher.’ Behold the latest, weirdest ad campaign to hit Moscow.

The aptly named delivery service “Delivery Club” has launched a new outdoor advertising campaign in Moscow, papering streets, subway cars, and train stations with posters that show couriers smiling beneath descriptions of their other careers and personal lives. The ads have been a laughing stock on social media because the delivery people working for the service are apparently qualified for far more challenging jobs, while juggling sometimes significant personal burdens.

Some examples:

Andrey, a descendant of Cossacks, the father of five daughters, former career officer and distinguished artist of the Russian Federation.
Paul came to Russia from Cameroon, he loves soccer and Bollywood films.
Urinbai knows nine languages and makes jewelry.

The posters begin with the phrase “your order will be delivered by,” followed by couriers’ various secondary professions. The list includes “literature teacher,” “reporter,” and so on. The phrase is already a meme online, where Russian Internet users are imagining different jobs for delivery people, often sharing their own professions as a form of self-deprecation, or offering up careers that aren’t as lucrative as they once were (like “cryptocurrency investor” and “new media director”).

Liza Fokht, BBC Russia correspondent Tweet: “well this is pretty much the future I imagined for myself”
Advertisement: “Natalia has worked at a federal TV network for seven years, and has always tried to help people through journalism.”

Tweet: “Meanwhile, Deliver Club advertisements stoop to a new low. It might be worth asking why a literature teacher is forced to work as a foot courier, but why wonder when you can run an ad campaign”
Advertisement: “Your order will be delivered by a literature teacher. Abdisattar likes mountain hiking and he's raising three children.”

A spokeswoman for Mail.ru Group, which owns Delivery Club, wrote on Facebook, “Show some respect for the couriers. They really are impressive people. You really never know who will bring you your next order. It could be a father of three daughters and a distinguished artist.”