Ukraine’s air raid sirens echo in Helsinki in UNICEF’s urgent outdoor campaign

In a stark reminder that Ukraine’s war is far from over, UNICEF Finland has launched a campaign that streams real-time air raid alerts from Ukraine to outdoor advertising screens across Helsinki.

The campaign, which taps into data from Ukraine’s official Air Alarm app, covers alerts from six major Ukrainian cities and instantly triggers messages across digital billboards whenever a siren sounds.

The message: children in Ukraine still need support. A MobilePay number for donations is displayed on each screen.

“Children are being killed and injured every day; they are traumatized and exhausted,” said Laura Helaniemi, Director of Marketing and Communications at UNICEF Finland.

“We provide protection, mental health services, education and bomb shelters – but we can’t do it without continued support.”

The effort is being amplified by Finland’s biggest outdoor media players, including JCDecaux, Bauer Media Outdoor, Ocean Outdoor, Mediateko and Outshine, all participating pro bono.

The tech setup, created by the SipuliGroup collective, transforms a standard OOH network into a reactive medium that brings war closer to viewers in Helsinki, some 1,300 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

For Nina Myllyharju of Bauer Media Outdoor, the collaboration is a reminder of how ad infrastructure can be repurposed for impact: “It’s striking to see how outdoor advertising can deliver a message that reminds us both of humanity and the power of technology.”

More than two million homes have been destroyed in Ukraine since the war began, and the ripple effects have left over 1.45 million children with interrupted schooling. UNICEF’s work in the region has already reached millions, but with around 20 alerts still going off daily, the need remains urgent.

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