Helsingin Sanomat: leaderboard-top-1 by TBWA

The ugly sweater trend around Christmastime has become a full-blown tradition. A Finnish newspaper is now turning the seasonal garment into something more than a kitschy fashion statement.

Helsingin Sanomat, the largest newspaper in the Nordics, has launched a series of ugly Christmas sweaters depicting the year’s ugliest news topics.

While the designs on the limited-edition sweaters are garish enough, the ugliness in the #uglytruthsweaters is due mostly to the subject matters presented. The series of and depicts some of the past year’s ugliest news topics: climate change, plastic in our oceans, war, sexual harassment and technological manipulation. Introduced under the tagline “The truth may be ugly, but it never goes out of style”, the collection reminds people that there is no matter that journalism should turn a blind eye to.

The sweaters will accompany a set of articles published in Helsingin Sanomat that look at each subject in detail. They will also be sent to a number of people who have contributed to resolving each matter, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari and #MeToo movement founder Tarana Burke.