Ukrainian drivers rally the world for support in uber’s global fundraising campaign

Agency: Banda / Director: Oleg Tomin

Uber was the first company on the ground to help Ukraine when the full-scale war broke out. From partnering with NGOs, moving people to safety, and transporting food, medicine and cultural artefacts at risk. 

But while Uber provided the technology, the heroes were the Ukrainian people who kept the country moving. So in order to rally global support, Uber handed its platforms over to the Ukrainian drivers themselves, to share their story on their own terms.

Everything led people to donate towards life-saving ambulances with Uber matching donations. More than $8.5 million had been raised with this campaign.

The stories of three brave Ukrainian drivers, who have helped keep their communities moving during the full-fledged war, were brought to a global stage to rally support through Uber's channels, in a worldwide campaign. 

The campaign was promoted within the Uber app and across Uber's media channels in more than 10 countries worldwide. In-app, we turned “waiting moments” (the time someone is waiting for their Uber ride or Uber Eats delivery to arrive) into an opportunity to hear the stories, and seamlessly donate with the click of a button. We also shared our message on donated media space, including a billboard at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam and in Times Square in NYC, as well as on Uber cars.

While a global campaign, it was a truly local effort. We worked with a wonderful local Ukrainian agency Banda, Ukrainian director Oleg Tomin, featuring Ukrainian drivers, and driving donations to Ukrainian NGO, United24, President Zelenskyy’s main Ukrainian foundation.

The production of the campaign was unique and also showed the bravery of the crew. Everything was done in Ukraine, by Ukrainians, literally under bombshells and air alarms. Oleg Tomin, the director, spent the first weeks of the invasion in Hostomel with his children. They saw Russian tanks, heard explosions, and were fortunate enough to escape. A shooting day had to end by 18:00. so that the crew could return home before the curfew. Sometimes the dubbing of videos was stopped because of Russian missile attacks at Kyiv. 

In addition to raising over $8.5M towards life-saving ambulances, Uber provided over ~300,000 free rides, started an Uber Shuttle to move people to safety, moved 500 truckloads of food and relief supplies, and has doubled their footprint in Ukraine since the start of the invasion from 9 to 18 cities.