In December 2023, photographs and videos of intimate lubricants with portraits of celebrities who left Russia on the label spread across the Internet. We decided to check whether such products actually went on sale.
Photos of products under the Contex brand with celebrities depicted on the packaging and the caption “relocant lubricants” are shared by users of social networks (X, "VKontakte", "Classmates") and blogging platforms ("Peekaboo", "Zen"). New product branding is also discussed at entertainment events. forums. The news spread most widely on Telegram, where the channels “Eggplant"(286,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Prometheus"(265,000), "Truthfulness"(192,000), "Sheikh Tamir"(136,000), "First People's"(115,000), etc.
The media, bloggers and ordinary Internet users use three photographs and one video as evidence. All these materials depict the same rack in the store. No other evidence of the existence of products with such a “Verified” label could be found. If such lubricants had actually gone on sale, several consumers would probably have wanted to share this information on social networks, but this did not happen.
The shelves with goods in the photographs and videos, judging by other products caught in the frame, are located in a supermarket, although from the surrounding environment it was not possible to understand which retailer the store belongs to. On the websites of large Russian retail chains (for example, “Crossroads", "Ashana", "Dixie", "Pyaterochki", "Ribbons" And "ABCs of taste") it was not possible to find any lubricant in such packaging. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that online stores may not have had time to update product images on their websites after the redesign. However, there is no information about the new label on the pages of the manufacturing company - for example, in “VKontakte", which is being updated quite actively. “Verified” sent a request to Contex, but at the time of writing the analysis had not yet received a response.
If you take a closer look at the photos and videos, you will notice that the price tags on the shelf do not correspond to the display of the goods: in place of lubricants there should be condoms from the same manufacturer. Nearby you can see the price tag for superglue - this eliminates the possibility that one of the buyers simply accidentally moved the lubricants on the shelf.
When the author of the video picks up the lubricant and turns it over, the label says: “Contex “Wave” lubricant gel.” It is logical to assume that even if photographs of celebrities were added to the label, the name of the product would still have to be indicated on the front side, as is done on original packaging of this lubricant.
Earlier, news spread on the Internet that the beverage manufacturer “Ya” had released birch sap with the inscription “I am Russian"on the packaging. “Verified” has already looked into this information, and it turned out that it was not true: the apple juice packages simply had different labels attached to them. Then several photos and videos of the same shelf also spread across social networks - their author, as in the case of lubricants, picked up one of the products and showed it to the camera. If you take a closer look at the images, you will notice that the manicure on the hand holding the juice and the one holding the intimate lubricant are very similar. There is a high probability that the author of the video about the juice “I am Russian” and the lubricant “Lubricants-Relocants” is the same person.
These two stories also coincide with the resources from which the spread of photos and videos began. The earliest post with pictures of lubricants that “Verified” was able to find was published in the Telegram channel “Aggregator» December 8, 2023 at 12:51 Moscow time. A little later, at 13:34, in the channel “Armed Forces of the Russian Federation"A video also appeared. In the case of the “I’m Russian” juice, the sequence was reversed: first the photos appeared in the channel “Armed Forces of the Russian Federation" and then the video in "Aggregator"
Finally, the release of such products, if it actually happened, could violate Russian legislation. The use of photographs of private individuals is regulated by article 152.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, according to which this requires the consent of the person depicted. There are a few exceptions to the article: for example, consent is not required if the photo is used in the public interest, if the person was paid to take the photo, or if the photo was taken at a public event (but in this case it should not be the main object of use, as is the case with lubricant labels). The depiction of people's faces on goods can hardly be considered in the public interest, and it is extremely doubtful that Pugacheva, Slepakov and Dud would agree to be photographed for such goods. In case of violation of this norm of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, material media, by a court decision, are subject to seizure and destruction without compensation. It seems unlikely that a large manufacturer of contraception and other intimate products would risk its product so much for the sake of black PR, which is not even covered on its own social networks.
Thus, it is extremely doubtful that Contex actually placed the faces of celebrities who left Russia on the packaging of their lubricants. Apart from a few photos and one video taken at the same store shelf, there is no other evidence of the existence of products with such a label. The ways of disseminating this evidence are similar to the already debunked fake about birch sap “I am Russian.” Moreover, the photos and videos of both products were probably taken by the same person. In addition, using people’s faces for commercial purposes without their consent is illegal in Russia, and it is unclear why a large manufacturer would take such a risk. As in the case of the “I’m Russian” juice, most likely, a homemade label was simply stuck on the original products - especially for photos and videos that eventually went viral on social networks.
Cover photo: Telegram channel "Aggregator»
Read on the topic:
- "Business Secrets". Is it possible to use images and quotes of famous people in the company’s social networks and advertising?
- Is it true that Russian stores have started selling birch sap “I’m Russian”?
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