Movchan Agency wins UK Agency Awards for AI dating café campaign

Movchan Agency won Best PR Campaign (small) at the 2026 UK Agency Awards for its “The World’s First AI Dating Café” activation with EVA AI. The campaign generated coverage in more than 300 outlets, reached over 20 million people, and pushed AI companionship into mainstream conversation.

Why it matters: - The award spotlights how a highly visual, real-world activation can move a stigmatized tech category into mainstream media. - The campaign helped normalize AI-human relationships at a time when AI companionship has grown into a $36 billion industry. - The activation showed that a startup can earn broad attention without a product launch or funding announcement.

What happened: - Movchan Agency won Best PR Campaign (small) at the 2026 UK Agency Awards. - The winning work was “The World’s First AI Dating Café,” created with connectionship app EVA AI. - The campaign centered on a two-night pop-up at New York’s Same Same Wine Bar. - The event coincided with Valentine’s Day and invited guests to dine with their AI partner or match with characters from EVA AI.

The details: - The UK Agency Awards panel of industry experts chose the campaign from a shortlist of standout entries. - Judges praised the work for its “great creative concept and cultural relevance, generating meaningful conversation and strong coverage.” - The campaign secured coverage in more than 300 outlets. - Coverage included The New York Times, WIRED, Fast Company, CNN, ABC News and Good Morning America. - The activation also aired on CNN International. - The campaign reached more than 20 million people. - Nadya Movchan said the team wanted to give people a way to bring AI relationships into the real world. - Movchan said EVA AI did not need a launch or a funding round to make headlines. - Movchan said the team built the story from scratch and brought AI companionship into the mainstream conversation.

Between the lines: - The campaign used a physical venue and a culturally loaded holiday to turn an online-only behavior into a public event. - That approach gave journalists a concrete scene, a timely hook and a broader debate about loneliness, companionship and technology. - The award also reinforces Movchan Agency’s positioning as a PR shop focused on viral storytelling for tech brands. - The agency has also won a Symbol Award this year, and Movchan received the Rising Star Award at the 2025 Davos Communications Awards. - The campaign is also shortlisted for Best PR Campaign at the 2026 Digiday Awards.

What’s next: - The Digiday Awards shortlist could add another industry win for the campaign. - Movchan Agency is likely to keep building campaigns around original storytelling and newsjacking for tech clients across the US, UK and Canada. - The agency says it continues to help companies create news even when they have nothing to announce.

The bottom line: - Movchan Agency turned an AI companionship concept into a headline-making real-world experience, and the UK Agency Awards recognized the result as one of the year’s strongest PR campaigns.