Haavisto masks vs. Niinistö cutouts

Presidential elections inspire new campaign moves

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By Heli Suominen
     
      At the Compass Square entrance to Helsinki’s Central Railway Station metro station a group of people are standing in the thick of the Friday morning rush hour.
      When the clock at the top of the escalator turns 8:00 members of the group put Pekka Haavisto masks on their faces.
      “The directions said five past”, someone protests.
     
After a moment of uncertainty everyone puts on the masks. There are approximately 50 “Pekkas” of various ages greeting each other. “Hello Pekka, good luck in the elections.”
      This is a flash mob event, in which a group of people convene in a public space to do something unexpected and then move on.
     
“I was invited through Facebook”, says 29-year-old Lotta Brech after taking off her mask. Next to her is her mother Ulla Kalmanlento.
      “I don’t know how to use Facebook, but my daughter asked me to come here.”
      Similar events have also been organised for Sauli Niinistö , in which people holding Niinistö signs have convened in one place.
     
The election campaigns have inspired citizens to come up with new ways of campaigning.
      Haavisto’s supporters have been very conspicuous in public places in Helsinki. Many have adorned their window curtains with the number 2 – Haavisto’s candidate number. Some wear number 2 earrings, while others have put Christmas lights in their windows in the shape of the numeral.
      One Niinistö supporter made a number 6 out of outdoor lanterns in a snow bank.
     
The Yappy Fashion company in Ypäjä proposed that the Niinistö campaign’s website could offer a range of Sauli shirts for dogs. The garments have a large letter S and a campaign slogan.
      “The idea came from Niinistö’s dog Lennu”, says CEO Tiina Kaskihalme.
     
The National Coalition Party is also using life-sized cardboard cut-outs of Sauli Niinistö, which were used in the elections six years ago. MPs Sanni Grahn-Laasonen and Lasse Männistö are touring Finland and some other parts of Europe with life-sized cardboard Saulis.
      “The image is so lifelike that it puts people in a good mood. We are also writing a blog about the tour”, Grahn-Laaasonen says.
     
The National Coalition Party’s campaign office also came up with the idea of a pop-up cafe, adorned with a smaller Sauli figure.
      “The pop-up cafe idea has taken on a life of its own, and people have organised them on ski trails, on the Helsinki Metro, and all kinds of places”, says Hanna Laine of the Niinistö campaign.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 28.1.2012


See also:
  Finnish products conspicuously absent in presidential campaign merchandise (10.1.2012)

Links:
  Masked Haavisto supporters hold flash mob at Metro station
  Cafe Niinistö video

HELI SUOMINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
heli.suominen@hs.fi