Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Yulia Timoshenko Election Posters

Ukrainians, by now, must be quite fed up with all election posters, but it is simply too hard to resist posting some of Yulia Timoshenko's posters here. One may wonder whether this youthful image is part of her success with the electorate on Sunday.

An obvious first choice is the new party symbol of Yulia Timoshenko's bloc - a graffiti heart.

Next, we have the culprit herself - caught red-handed (painted?) with corpus delicti just behind her. My Ukrainian, regretfully, is not good enough to decipher what it says, but I would guess that it is something like "they cannot put you down anymore". And what is the no. 36? I seem to have missed something. Any suggestions from someone who knows? Could it be her number on the ballot? With 45 parties running for parliament, this might be a logical explanation, but who knows? It also appears somewhat impractical to go out for a graffiti-ride dressed all in white, but probably Timoshenko has little experience of this.

Then we have the classic: "Fast forward Ukraine!" with Yulia - who else? - riding her country towards the future ["Only forward" - to be correct]. She must be a nightmare to her hairdresser. As some of you probably know already, her rye-blond hair is a rather recent invention. Just a couple of years back, her hair was raven-black. -Variatio delectat. There are stories of how she visited New York in the 1990's, all dressed up in mink-coat and with jewellery the quantity of the medals of a marshal of the Soviet Union. Needless to say, this did not go down all that well with the ladies on Fifth Avenue. So, Timoshenko's new look is still much to prefer, and at least it makes her hairdresser - visiting her each morning - a rather wealthy woman.

Finally, we are back with the youthful and innocent Yulia, classically dressed in angel-white and with a becoming pearl-necklace braidered round her pompous neck. A true heroïne proclaiming "I am with you!". One wonders whether this is a genuine creation or something made up by the fashion houses of Paris 8th arrondissement. That people may admire Timoshenko as a very talented politician is one thing, but who is she kidding with her combined image of "girl-power" and innocence? Or is this it - what the voters want? Anyway, it is of minor consequence here. What matters is that these hilarious posters will be kept as a reminder of the choice of a new generation in Ukraine.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Selling image always seems to work better than you think it should. This is why marketing is generally so successful. This image they are selling seems to be youth and a sort of pure, strong, feminine spirit. Rather JFK meets a young Maggie Thatcher.

36 is probably how old she wishes she was. ;-) Given how many candidates seemed to be running in Ukraine, it could be her ballot number though.

Vilhelm Konnander said...

Dear Mr. Shedd,

I thought I would not mention Mrs. Thatcher in this context, while everyone else does, but you are, of course, right with the comparison. However, I would have been happy to pay money to see Mrs. Thatcher riding a motorbike. Also, the image Timoshenko is trying to give is perhaps: "Look at me - I am no Maggie Thatcher, but the young and strong future leader of yuor country".

Thanks a lot for explaining the "36-mystery". That is too evident an explanation for me to have seen it. Her ballot number it must be.

Yours,

Vilhelm