J - 2
Our first candidate today must be unknown by foreigners...Hell he's barely known in France!
Nihous is the candidate supported by CPNT (Chasse, Pêche, Nature et Tradition) a small traditionalist lobby party that represents what we would call "La France profonde" (rural France). The Green party is their nemesis for they defend hunting and claim they are the true ecologists.
Here's the first page of Nihous' campaign flyer:
You can see that, unlike other candidates, the name of the party is emphasized. For the Presidential we're supposed to vote for a person not for a party so usually the acronym/logo is discrete but the problem is that nobody knows Frédéric Nihous!
The background fits in the political theme of CPNT and in the slogan (La ruralité d'abord...in yellow of course because yellow is connected to fields and therefore countryside), we can make out the woods behind Nihous. He doesn't wear a tie, his shirt isn't buttoned to the top. He looks serious yet casual. A man of nature. I don't like his mouth but he's quite attractive. I like his skull, his eyes, his nose and his dimples. He could be a model or a rugby player. He's only 39 years old by the way...which is only 6 year older than Besancenot. However this poster doesn't play on the youth-card too much, at least not the way Besancenot's does. It says: this is a healthy manly man!
Last year the candidate of CPNT was a depressing older guy who was probably a better speaker than Nihous but who was much less easy on the eyes...
The second one is more famous...
This is the woman who may become the first Présidente of France (actually I don't think she's going to win but let's suspend our belief).
The first page of her flyer is eaxctly the poster that we can see in the streets. Her letters to the citizens and her proposals appear on the three other pages. This poster is very controversial.
This is the opposite of the previous poster. You can see the logos and names of the three parties (The Socialist Party of course but also the MDC and the Radical Party) that support her at the bottom in small characters. Basically it's a portrait.
I've heard some people say that it's ugly, that it looks like some handout form the 70's, too cold because of the W&B, or too red...They criticize the photo, the typography, the framing.
I disagree. I do think it's a great poster, the best poster in my opinion and instead of calling it old-fashioned I would call it the most refreshing and daring actually so it fits in the theme of "le changement". This poster isn't like the others, you notice it immediately and you don't forget it. I don't know if it's going to convince people (I for instance won't vote for her) but it's smart. Too smart maybe?
Firstly the slogan is really good: La France Présidente. I don't know who found it but kudos to that person. Usually the slogans are " President ".
This one has several meanings or rather several layers. The first thing you notice in the message is the feminine. And of course the change would come from the fact that this candidate is a woman. It is stressed by the word change in white that matches and seems to reflect her name below. Her feminity is a campaign argument. For the first time a President would be a woman, it would be historical. This is a portrait of a lady.
But "La France Presidente" also means that voting for Royal would lead us to a true democracy. One of Royal's themes of campaign was what she called " la démocratie participative" (participative democracy). It has been mocked by many people (including me because I saw it as pure gadget to hide the lack of actual programme and political views) but this poster manages to recall that attractive innovation, that she's consistent with her approach and that through her the nation would rule eventually. It could also suggest that thanks to her France would have the first role in Europe or even maybe in the world (this is what I would call the De Gaulle-like side of her poster).
At last but not least, "La France Présidente" seems to equate Ségolène Royale to La France. This is very Gaullian too! In 1958 De Gaulle suggested a similar equation between Marianne (personification of France) and himself. It's even easier for Ségolène since she's a woman. She's the ultimate Marianne and she's the absolute synthesis of French politics.
The photograph is also well-thought and works on syncretism. She's obviously the new Mona Lisa. Actually her portrait uses different elements. One of them is the mystery. Of course she doesn't smile so she may appear not very warm, distant even, but she has that strange yet indisputable beauty (W&B flatters women) and that ghost of a smile for which La Joconde is so famous. Her face is a bit on the left side which hints at her being left-wing, but it's mostly a matter of attitude. The hair, the expresison, the way she's looking at us, the lack of colour...everything calls Vinci's painting to mind. I don't know if the strategy is to win the fans of the Da Vinci Code but I'm sure that the element of mystery has been taken into account. That is very Mitterrand-like.
Another theme is motherhood. This wannabe-arty portrait makes her look like a Madonna*. For a long time our male politicians have used paternalism as a political weapon (De Gaulle again, Mitterrand of course even though he was called "Tonton", Chirac even). Now the time of maternalism has come !
Or not...
*ETA: I heard that in Villepinte she chose Madonna's "hang up" as her music! Coincidence ?
And the last candidate of the day is
Do I need to introduce you to the candidate of the UMP?
For some reason I had trouble uploading the poster on photobucket. I think that my computer is just as anti-Sarkozy as I am !
It's very classic, the standard campaign poster (the blue, the quiet countryside behind, the light, the dark suit)probably effective but you can almost take my whole analysis of Bayrou's flyer and use it here, minus the hands and the "bedroom eyes" (!). The big ENSEMBLE uses the gathering card even though "everything is possible" is of course on the right. Sarkozy tries to look reassuring, benevolent, soothing even : "look at me, look into my eyes, I'm not a dangerous man, I'm sweet you can trust me!"
This poster doesn't inspire me much but perhaps you have ideas?
Nihous is the candidate supported by CPNT (Chasse, Pêche, Nature et Tradition) a small traditionalist lobby party that represents what we would call "La France profonde" (rural France). The Green party is their nemesis for they defend hunting and claim they are the true ecologists.
Here's the first page of Nihous' campaign flyer:
You can see that, unlike other candidates, the name of the party is emphasized. For the Presidential we're supposed to vote for a person not for a party so usually the acronym/logo is discrete but the problem is that nobody knows Frédéric Nihous!
The background fits in the political theme of CPNT and in the slogan (La ruralité d'abord...in yellow of course because yellow is connected to fields and therefore countryside), we can make out the woods behind Nihous. He doesn't wear a tie, his shirt isn't buttoned to the top. He looks serious yet casual. A man of nature. I don't like his mouth but he's quite attractive. I like his skull, his eyes, his nose and his dimples. He could be a model or a rugby player. He's only 39 years old by the way...which is only 6 year older than Besancenot. However this poster doesn't play on the youth-card too much, at least not the way Besancenot's does. It says: this is a healthy manly man!
Last year the candidate of CPNT was a depressing older guy who was probably a better speaker than Nihous but who was much less easy on the eyes...
The second one is more famous...
This is the woman who may become the first Présidente of France (actually I don't think she's going to win but let's suspend our belief).
The first page of her flyer is eaxctly the poster that we can see in the streets. Her letters to the citizens and her proposals appear on the three other pages. This poster is very controversial.
This is the opposite of the previous poster. You can see the logos and names of the three parties (The Socialist Party of course but also the MDC and the Radical Party) that support her at the bottom in small characters. Basically it's a portrait.
I've heard some people say that it's ugly, that it looks like some handout form the 70's, too cold because of the W&B, or too red...They criticize the photo, the typography, the framing.
I disagree. I do think it's a great poster, the best poster in my opinion and instead of calling it old-fashioned I would call it the most refreshing and daring actually so it fits in the theme of "le changement". This poster isn't like the others, you notice it immediately and you don't forget it. I don't know if it's going to convince people (I for instance won't vote for her) but it's smart. Too smart maybe?
Firstly the slogan is really good: La France Présidente. I don't know who found it but kudos to that person. Usually the slogans are " President ".
This one has several meanings or rather several layers. The first thing you notice in the message is the feminine. And of course the change would come from the fact that this candidate is a woman. It is stressed by the word change in white that matches and seems to reflect her name below. Her feminity is a campaign argument. For the first time a President would be a woman, it would be historical. This is a portrait of a lady.
But "La France Presidente" also means that voting for Royal would lead us to a true democracy. One of Royal's themes of campaign was what she called " la démocratie participative" (participative democracy). It has been mocked by many people (including me because I saw it as pure gadget to hide the lack of actual programme and political views) but this poster manages to recall that attractive innovation, that she's consistent with her approach and that through her the nation would rule eventually. It could also suggest that thanks to her France would have the first role in Europe or even maybe in the world (this is what I would call the De Gaulle-like side of her poster).
At last but not least, "La France Présidente" seems to equate Ségolène Royale to La France. This is very Gaullian too! In 1958 De Gaulle suggested a similar equation between Marianne (personification of France) and himself. It's even easier for Ségolène since she's a woman. She's the ultimate Marianne and she's the absolute synthesis of French politics.
The photograph is also well-thought and works on syncretism. She's obviously the new Mona Lisa. Actually her portrait uses different elements. One of them is the mystery. Of course she doesn't smile so she may appear not very warm, distant even, but she has that strange yet indisputable beauty (W&B flatters women) and that ghost of a smile for which La Joconde is so famous. Her face is a bit on the left side which hints at her being left-wing, but it's mostly a matter of attitude. The hair, the expresison, the way she's looking at us, the lack of colour...everything calls Vinci's painting to mind. I don't know if the strategy is to win the fans of the Da Vinci Code but I'm sure that the element of mystery has been taken into account. That is very Mitterrand-like.
Another theme is motherhood. This wannabe-arty portrait makes her look like a Madonna*. For a long time our male politicians have used paternalism as a political weapon (De Gaulle again, Mitterrand of course even though he was called "Tonton", Chirac even). Now the time of maternalism has come !
Or not...
*ETA: I heard that in Villepinte she chose Madonna's "hang up" as her music! Coincidence ?
And the last candidate of the day is
Do I need to introduce you to the candidate of the UMP?
For some reason I had trouble uploading the poster on photobucket. I think that my computer is just as anti-Sarkozy as I am !
It's very classic, the standard campaign poster (the blue, the quiet countryside behind, the light, the dark suit)probably effective but you can almost take my whole analysis of Bayrou's flyer and use it here, minus the hands and the "bedroom eyes" (!). The big ENSEMBLE uses the gathering card even though "everything is possible" is of course on the right. Sarkozy tries to look reassuring, benevolent, soothing even : "look at me, look into my eyes, I'm not a dangerous man, I'm sweet you can trust me!"
This poster doesn't inspire me much but perhaps you have ideas?