BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

Moscow courier service campaign creates a stir online

  • Published
    17 May 2019
Share page
About sharing
Ad campaign for Delivery Club featuring Natalia Andreeva, who used to be a TV reporter.Image source, Delivery Club
Image caption,

Natalia Andreeva quit her TV career for her well-being, and to earn more money

By Anastasia Clark and Sherie Ryder
BBC Monitoring and BBC News

Do you pay attention to the person who delivers your food, and would it make a difference if you knew them?

In Moscow, a company called Delivery Club has launched an advertising campaign around the city, and across Russian-language Twitter, filled with photos and personal details of some of their workers.

One example says food will be delivered by "a literature teacher, Abdisattar, who's interested in mountain hiking and is raising three children."

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post by #говоритмосква

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post by #говоритмосква
Presentational white space

Other workers include a member of a writers' union who has five daughters, a woman who hopes to climb Mount Everest and a man who speaks nine languages.

There has been mixed reaction on social media.

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 2 by Новости от 66.RU. Здесь все всё понимают

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 2 by Новости от 66.RU. Здесь все всё понимают
Presentational white space

As one Russian news outlet points out, a former news reporter has switched to working for the courier service, external and is now earning more than she did on television.

According to the article, state controlled Channel One have asked Natalia Andreeva to come back to them, but she has said no. Instead, she is happy to set her own hours of work.

One Twitter user laments that this has become "commonplace".

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 3 by Колючий Йо

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 3 by Колючий Йо
Presentational white space

"This is not an idea worth criticising, but a reality surrounding us", the tweet reads.

Another criticises the company for inciting pity, shame and bitterness, referring to a "distinguished Russian artist in his old age forced to deliver food to drunk teenagers."

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 4 by fesko

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 4 by fesko
Presentational white space

Some appreciate the personal touch to the adverts, but one user said the adverts could be seen as demonstrating "only outcasts work in delivery", when the reality is the couriers are "working to survive."

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 5 by Мордовский талисманчик.

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 5 by Мордовский талисманчик.
Presentational white space

A spokesperson for Mail.ru, which owns Delivery Club, has explained the thinking behind the campaign in a Facebook post, external saying: "We wanted to show the workers as real people, not models or actors."

Poster which says "Your order will be delivered by a football fan. He loves Bollywood movies and Russian music"Image source, Delivery Club
Image caption,

This poster says "Your order will be delivered by a football fan. He loves Bollywood movies and Russian music"

Not everyone has criticised the adverts. Some say people should be happy, external delivery workers earn more than reporters and teachers.

One Facebook user was pleased the campaign "destroys snobbish stereotypes and exposes social problems."

Some people have seen the funny side, and created their own adverts featuring potential couriers, like this Game of Thrones fan who writes: "Daenarys is interested in fire and raising one child".

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 6 by Никотинка с Бровями+

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 6 by Никотинка с Бровями+
Presentational white space

More on this story

  • Russian bots rigged Voice Kids talent show result

    • Published
      16 May 2019
    Mikella Abramova in The Voice Kids final
  • Activists storm site of new church in Russia

    • Published
      15 May 2019
    Protesters in Yekaterinburg
  • Russia tightens grip on national net

    • Published
      3 May 2019
    finger hovers over button

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Gaza aid drops would be 'insufficient' and risk chaos, MSF warns, as pressure mounts on Israel

    • 2519 viewing2.5k viewing
  • Trump says 'great to be in Scotland', as he lands for four-day trip

    • Published
      12 hours ago
  • Gregg Wallace 'sorry' but says he's 'not a groper'

    • Published
      10 hours ago

More to explore

  • Why we need to talk about periods, breasts and injuries in women's sport

    Two England players with faces full of joy and wide smiles, both wearing dark blue short sleeve team shirts. With one's blonde pony tile flying wildly.
  • 'Don't look away' and 'Prostate patients ignored by NHS'

    The front page of the Daily Mirror and The Daily Telegraph
  • How reality TV changed the way we think - for the better

    A treated image showing an old TV screen with a close up eye
  • Sleep, exercise, hydrate - do we really need to stick to recommended daily doses?

    A woman wearing black leggings and pink athletic shoes, standing on a set of black steps. One foot is placed on a higher step while the other remains on a lower one, suggesting an exercise or stretching.
  • ​​What is inside the GHF food aid box being distributed in Gaza?

    An image showing a young man carrying an box of aid with the GHF logo emblazoned on it. He is wearing a dark shirt with Nike Air written on it. Several other people are walking alongside him, and the image is imposed over the BBC Verify branding and colours.
  • School-leavers losing their lives for Russia in Putin's war with Ukraine

    Separate photos of two boys, one in a white judo outfit and the other a black tracksuit top
  • French pledge to recognise Palestine is a gamble - so will Starmer follow suit?

    Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron
  • How Epstein case is tearing apart Maga's online conspiracy wing

    Red hats with Donald Trump's Maga logo are handed out at an event
  • Why is River Island in trouble?

    A group of young people walk past a River Island store with sale signs in the window
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    'My dad started spying on my mum' - the drugs causing sexual urges

  2. 2

    World's thirst for matcha dries up global supplies

  3. 3

    Trump says 'great to be in Scotland', as he lands for four-day trip

  4. 4

    Gregg Wallace 'sorry' but says he's 'not a groper'

  5. 5

    Sleep, exercise, hydrate - do we really need to stick to recommended daily doses?

  6. 6

    School-leavers losing their lives for Russia in Putin's war with Ukraine

  7. 7

    'Don't look away' and 'Prostate patients ignored by NHS'

  8. 8

    UK condemns Hong Kong cash offer for help in arresting activists

  9. 9

    Why we need to talk about periods, breasts and injuries in women's sport

  10. 10

    Trans tribunal phone notes were not checked in person

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • New drama from writer Jimmy McGovern

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Unforgivable
  • The Bafta award-winning comedy returns

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Such Brave Girls
  • An epic road trip across Vietnam

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Top Gear
  • Amol Rajan and Billy Bragg chat politics

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Radical with Amol Rajan
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.