Political Cleavages
Eric Langenbacher has an interesting post on campaign poster styles in Germany at the AICGS blog on the upcoming German election.
German campaigns are witty—especially evident in campaign posters—that have a long and artful tradition in that country. … This year already has not disappointed. My favorite (thus far) is CDU candidate Vera Lengsfeld’s poster showing her and Chancellor Merkel in cleavage-revealing décolletage—with the caption “wir haben mehr zu bieten” (we have more to offer). See The Telegraph. Although criticized by some feminists and others, no one seems to have a problem with the amount of flesh revealed. This poster would be absolutely unthinkable in the still prudish US of A.
Here’s the actual poster:
As Eric says, this poster would be a complete non-starter in any US election campaign. Is that a good or bad thing? Discuss.
Comments
That’s probably about the first time someone’s calling the German campaign “witty”.
The more common sentiment even among politically interested people seems to be that this year’s campaign is exceptionally boring and arbitrary.
While the Lengsfeld poster (which I, living in Berlin, pass every day) may prove to be an exception, it might as well backfire. Some people thought it was actually an ad placed by a political opponent and the rest of the party distanced itself from the poster.
Posted by: TCHe | August 25, 2009 11:55 AM
Certainly, this poster by a Green party member of the Bundestag wouldn’t fly in the US:
http://www2.stroebele-online.de/upload/pic_2696886.jpg
Posted by: No | August 25, 2009 03:46 PM
I totally agree with TCHe. There is no evidence so far that this poster will help Vera Lengsfeld to win her constituency which will most likely go to the candidate of the Green party. Quite the opposite - because Lengsfeld did not clear the poster with Chancellor Merkel, it was said that Merkel was not amused to see her cleavage all over Berlin-Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg when she came back from holiday.
Posted by: Daniel Florian | August 25, 2009 04:38 PM
When saying the party distanced itself keep in mind that Merkel approved it though, Lengsfeld wouldn’t be able to run this otherwise.
Posted by: JDub | August 25, 2009 11:12 PM
Here’s a verse I penned about three years ago:
DIVIDE TO CONQUER
Cleavage directs the eyes,
Inspiring imagination,
Both of shape and size,
Leading to temptation.
Now, how much more does this candidate have to offer? Should we provide support for an uplifting experience?
Posted by: Shag from Brookline | August 26, 2009 06:33 AM
I think it is sexist. I can’t imagine a poster of a man’s “package” used in a similar way.
Posted by: rosmar | August 26, 2009 12:39 PM
“I can’t imagine a poster of a man’s ‘package’ used in a similar way.”
Has “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” been forgotten? It served George W well in 2004.
Posted by: Shag from Brookline | August 26, 2009 03:23 PM
I agree, I think the only thing “witty” about the campaign are the hapless attempts by our politicians to be cool, modern, connected, Obama - you name it.
There is a reason why the two fake parties (Die Partei - “The Party” - linked to Titanic, the rough German equivalent of the Onion - and Horst Schlämmer - Germany’s response to Borat - are getting more media attention than the actual politicians.)
The public debate about the poster by Lengsfeld in Germany has been largely dismissive - there have been some complaints about sexism, but mainly people were just annoyed by its empty stupidity. Lengsfeld is a weird character, a hero of resistance against the DDR regime who has since taken some strange turns and who will get crushed in her district by the Green party guy with the funny cartoon poster linked to above (H.C. Ströbele - who became famous inter alia by defending left wing radicals in the 1970s. And who still bikes to the Bundestag).
Merkel, by the way, did not approve of the poster, no.
And to answer Henry’s question - the fact that a campaign poster like this is possible in Germany is a good thing -
although the poster itself really isn’t. It’s just a cry for attention by someone with a fading political career.
Posted by: Sebastian | August 26, 2009 03:46 PM
” There is a reason why the two fake parties . . . are getting more media attention than the actual politicians.”
Fake? Really?
Posted by: Shag from Brookline | August 26, 2009 09:18 PM