FX's The Americans Emmy Pitch Ad Feels Way Too Real

If there's any show whose parallels to real life seem especially eerie right now, it's FX's The Americans. And with its fifth season having arrived as an arguable benchmark of what is already an esteemed series, at a time when the concept of a covert Russian invasion of the United States rings especially true to current events, the network is pulling out all the stops to draw that association ever nearer when it comes to awards season consideration efforts.

A full-page ad in Sunday's issue of The New York Times declared "THE RUSSIANS ARE HERE" alongside a jarring image of the Washington Monument shrouded in the Russian red flag.

The image didn't specifically identify itself as an award season plug, but instead directed readers to TheRussiansAreHere.org, which then redirects to the network's For Your Consideration materials for the show.

PerThe Hollywood Reporter, the ad copy also appeared in Sunday's issue of The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times and was shown on this morning's episode of CBS's Face the Nation.

The image is a direct reminder of Time Magazine's similarly gasp-inducing May cover image of the White House being overtaken by the Kremlin.

While The Americans first launched in 2013, when U.S.-Russia relations were far less central to the national political conversation, showrunners have had an interesting time continuing the series on without directly deriving material from the headlines of now.

At the ATX TV Festival on Saturday, co-creator Joe Weisberg told audiences (via Variety), "When we write the show, we're in a bubble. We don't want people watching and thinking those clever writers put something there about Donald Trump."

The advertorial team, however, seems much less guarded about mimicking the current climate in its promotional materials if this image is any indication.

The Americans returns to FX for its sixth and final season in 2018.