Russia: "Unique trick" to call on men to vote in presidential election
Russian magazine Maxim hopes a photo series of sexy girls at ballot boxes will encourage young men to vote in the presidential election.
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One of the images from the campaign calling on men to vote in Maxim magazine. Photo:Maxim |
The photo series was posted in the Maxim magazine's "Adults Only" group on the Vkontakte social network.
"The idea of the series is that there are things you can only do when you're 18: get married, drive, have sex, join the army and vote," he said.Alexander Malenkov, editor-in-chief of Maxim, explained toGuardianYesterday.
Mr. MalenkovThe magazine is aimed at 18- to 24-year-old men who have never voted before, and the photos are designed as stickers for people to share with friends, he added.
He declined to say who headed the campaign or how much money was spent on it, but said a team of 10 editors produced content for the group."For adults only"with 430,000 members.
In addition to the photo series, Maxim also released a video of bikini-clad models, some even topless, posing at the polling station. The video did not mention any specific candidates.
Several other sexually explicit videos have been circulating on Russian social media in the run-up to the March 18 presidential election, with millions of views. One video, posted in early February, shows a woman refusing to have sex with a man because he did not vote.
According to yesterday's poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center WCIOM, the voter turnout for the Russian presidential election will be around 63-67%. President Vladimir Putin is expected to beat his seven rivals with 69-73% of the vote.
If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a second round of the election will be held in April.
