New interpretation given to National Coalition Party campaign slogan

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One positive spin-off from the recent spate of stories surrounding election campaign financing is the strain of black humour the whole rather embarrassing matter has generated.
      The political rivals of the conservative National Coalition Party, and a good many others, too, have had fun at the party's expense after the columnist Matti Pitko wrote a witty piece in the Tampere-based newspaper Aamulehti.
      Pitko joked that the father of the National Coalition's 2007 campaign slogan - Suomen toivo ("Finland's Hope") - had now been revealed.
     
The "Suomen toivo" marketed by the party in numerous newspaper and other advertisements in the run-up to the election is, said Pitko, naturally none other than Toivo Sukari, one of the names behind the association known as Kehittyvien Maakuntien Suomi, which was lavish in its support for candidates from the National Coalition Party and others. Several National Coalition ministers are on the list of recipients of KMS funding.
     
The play on words - Toivo is also a common Finnish first name aside from being the word for "hope" - has most recently inspired the photoshoppers into action, and the scurrilous poster produced describes Toivon puolue (either "The Party of Hope", or "Toivo's Party", depending on how one views the businessman's involvement).
      The style mimics the National Coalition Party's retro campaign posters from just over a year ago, but with a few subtle differences, including the Ideapark logo on the hot-air balloon.
      Toivo Sukari has lobbied for the setting up of a large shopping mall by this name in Vihti, just outside the Greater Helsinki area.


Links:
  The National Coalition Party´s 2007 newspaper advertising images

Helsingin Sanomat