Freedom From Ads Wasn’t Mentioned
Russia’s historic banner of Lenin in Moscow’s Red Square will be replaced for May Day with an American foundation’s ad that proclaims, “Freedom Works.”
The private, nonprofit Freedom Forum paid $150,000 to advocate its worldwide message of freedom of speech and the press. The 54-by-36-foot board proclaiming “Freedom Works” and “free press, free speech, free spirit” in English and Russian will stand where Lenin’s picture was hung during May Day celebrations, Freedom Forum President Charles Overby said.
Russia fell short of its goal of selling $1 million worth of ads in Red Square for the holiday that once celebrated communist ideology, but sold well over one-third of the package, said Darryl Marks, a New York-based consultant for the deal.
Marks said an advertiser in Madrid, Spain, bought the space in front of the Kremlin Wall to tout the Canary Islands as a tourist paradise. The Russians had been seeking $250,000 for the space, but Marks wouldn’t reveal the sale price.
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