MSNBC finds small moment of ‘joy’ in ‘This is who we are’ Ukraine promo

MSNBC is back with another installment of its “This is who we are” campaign, this time featuring the touching moment between one of its correspondents and a young Ukrainian girl.

The spot focuses on a clip from March 2022 featuring reporter Ellison Barber on the ground in Poland at a refugee camp for Ukrainians fleeing the country.

While she was walking through the camp on a live shot for “MSNBC Reports,” a young girl, whom Barber had been playing soccer with before her live hit, began tagging along, gaining her 15 minutes of fame, as it were.

The spot includes the on-screen text “This is keeping joy alive,” which includes an extended stroke animation effect before forming the sentence. 

The promo also includes Chris Jansing, who was anchoring when Barber’s live shot aired, commenting on how “it is joyful to see a child smiling…,” creating a nice tie-in with the on-screen text.

Back in March 2021, after rolling out a new logo, rebranding and new graphics, MSNBC began airing a new take on the “This is who we are” promos, switching over to a blue, white and yellow color scheme that matched the new “MSNBC Reports” look.

Multiple iterations using variations of this format were produced.

Those versions typically used Proxima as a typeface and included a distinctive, unidentified musical bed. 

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However, the March 2022 Ukrainian refugee promo drops the colors but reverts back to the black and white typography and fullscreen graphics that were used for years prior to the 2021 update.

It also reverts back to a slower, more somber musical cut, also unidentified, though it’s not the same as the one used previously.

In the past “This is who we are” has been used, along with variations such as “This is what we do” and “This is ‘Today'” have been used by NBC News as well.