The hero of the campaign is the young boxer Maksym Halinichev, who died at the front in 2023 at the age of 22. Five other young athletes are at his side: Anastasiia Honcharova (cyclist), Fedir Iepifanov (fencer), Oleksandr Peleshenko (weightlifter), Mykyta Zasiadko (swimmer) and Mykola Zhydkov (footballer). All of them lost their lives in the war. And with the consent of their families, they tell their very personal stories as AI athletes so that they can live on at the Olympic Games - their true dream goal.

 

"The Revived" was presented for the first time by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and Brand Ukraine at an event in the Olympic Village in Paris on Tuesday. From now on, the film about the fallen athletes and their mission will be distributed and shared on many international channels, prominent brand ambassadors will join as supporters and advocates of the initiative. The AI characters of the fallen athletes were created based on photos and video footage provided by their families, with AI tools generating deceptively lifelike characters. The initiative is designed not only to commemorate the dreams and hopes of the fallen athletes, but also to draw attention to the impact of ongoing wars on sports around the world.

 

"The Revived" was presented for the first time by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and Brand Ukraine at an event in the Olympic Village in Paris on Tuesday. The film about the fallen athletes and their mission will now be distributed and shared on many international channels, and prominent brand ambassadors will appear as supporters and advocates of the initiative. The AI characters of the fallen athletes were created based on photos and video footage provided by their families, with AI tools generating deceptively lifelike characters. The initiative is designed not only to commemorate the dreams and hopes of the fallen athletes, but also to draw attention to the impact of ongoing wars on sports around the world.

 

Frank Hahn, Chief Creative Officer of the responsible agency group TEAMBBDO, says: "It is important to us that the Olympic Games also send a powerful message of peace. To this end, we used a unique AI technology that makes it possible to bring dead athletes back to life and tell their story in an extremely moving, credible and emotional way". Adds Inna Tabachenko, copywriter at BBDO Germany: "People hear a lot about the horrors of war and sometimes the many reports can be numbing. We want to remind people that the Ukrainian victims are not just numbers - they are faces, voices, hearts and dreams".


 

For more information on the Heavenly Athletes visit: https://ukraine.ua/the-revived/.

Click here to go directly to the film.

 

 

Campaign makers:  

 

Brand Ukraine (ukraine.ua): Official brand of Ukraine 
The Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine 
TEAMBBDO with 

• BBDO GmbH (Creative)
• Peter Schmidt Group (Design)
• Interone (Digital and Project management)
• Tektite (Production)
• Supreme Music (Music)