‘Bikinis & bees’: The worst and best of Germany’s political posters this election (PHOTOS)
With less than 24 hours left till Germans head to the polls, active campaigning has ended but the battle for votes continues – you need only take a look at the various campaign posters, ranging from somewhat witty to plain awkward, that still plaster Berlin’s streets.
While the mainstream parties, such as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU (Christian Democratic Union) and its main rival, SPD (Social Democratic Party) tend to be less than bold in their street advertising strategies, the same cannot be said of upstarts like Alternative for Germany (AfD) and underdogs like the German Pirate Party, that took a decidedly more creative approach.
While some might find this particular poster not-exactly-politically-correct, it definitely catches the eye.
“Burqas? We like bikinis.”
With the below poster which reads "Mum doesn’t have to know everything! We fight against the surveillance state and for your privacy," the Pirate Party may be sure it will appeal to the younger audiences.
And a poster for Anja Hirschel, the Pirate Party’s candidate and a big fan of honey-bees, has a deep personal touch.
"Most of all I like to protect data, fundamental rights and bees," it says.
We may not hear about them much in German mainstream media, but there are adherents of communism, too. While most of the parties preferred to place their candidates on the campaign posters, the Marxist–Leninist Party of Germany’s features Vladimir Lenin.
Satirical Die Partei (The Party), which is actually an abbreviation for “Work, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Elite Promotion, and grass-roots democratic Initiative,” put the word “Kançler” on their poster with party member, comedian and author Serdar Somuncu making a very grumpy face, a jab at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Meanwhile, Thomas Heilmann, a candidate from Merkel’s CDU enlisted the help of Barack Obama, as though the help of Merkel were not enough, to promote his campaign.
“If I could, I would vote for Merkel,” it says.
Some of the placards that took over the streets early August have not stood the test of time though.
