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A candidate from Angela Merkel's CDU party has spiced up an otherwise dull campaign with an election poster featuring photos of both her and the chancellor revealing ample cleavage. The slogan? "We have more to offer."
Will sex sell? Only the poll results will tell
German election campaigns are generally more staid than sexy, but seven weeks until the country heads to the polls, the CDU candidate for the Berlin district of Kreuzberg has caused an uproar with her new campaign poster.
Vera Lengsfeld put photos of herself and Chancellor Merkel sporting very revealing necklines side by side, with the slogan "We have more to offer" splashed across the chancellor's breasts.
The photo of Merkel has previously made the rounds in the German media: it was taken when the chancellor wore an unusually low-cut gown to the 2008 opening of Oslo's opera house.
Merkel wore her low cut gown to the inauguration of the new opera building in Oslo in 2008
Lengsfeld, 57, said she had to resort to desperate measures, as she's running against incumbent Hans-Christian Stroebele, who has twice won the only directly mandated seat for the Greens.
"I needed to come up with something to even be noticed in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg," she said.
Clearly, she achieved her goal.
"I had 17,000 clicks in one day on my election blog. I would not have achieved that with a regular street campaign," Lengsfeld said.
She hung 750 posters in her district, though local media reported that many have already been stolen as souvenirs.
Witty or shameful?
Bloggers commenting on the poster were divided. Some described it as "witty, cheeky and fun," while others dismissed it as "embarrassing and shameful."
The women's arm of the CDU reprimanded Lengsfeld for resorting to a "sex sells" strategy.
"We don't need to do things like this anymore," spokeswoman Maria Boehmer told a news conference.
Lengsfeld said she couldn't understand the fuss.
"I find it amazing how little humor some people have shown over this placard," she said. "People always complain election posters are boring and then as soon as someone does something different, people get annoyed."
One person who is likely not amused by Lengfeld's strategy is the chancellor herself. Lengsfeld did not ask for permission to use the famous photo of Merkel's cleavage, and so far, the chancellor's office has declined to comment.
dc/AFP/dpa
Editor: Nancy Isenson
