Shoe Polish Brand Stocko advertising poster 1929

This Soviet advertising poster was created in 1929 by artist Alexander Zelensky for the German industrial concession Shtok & Co. operating in the USSR. It promotes the shoe polish brand “Shtoko/Stocko.” The Constructivist composition features bold geometry and typography, with a large yellow tin of polish anchoring the upper left. A playful mascot figure is literally built from the Cyrillic letters “ШТОКО” turning the brand name into a walking character that carries the eye diagonally across the page. At the bottom, a pair of gleaming black shoes underscores the product’s promise of high shine. The poster is a vivid example of late-NEP commercial art, blending avant-garde design with foreign-brand advertising in the Soviet market.