Whistles to condoms: French election candidates branch out into merchandise
For those truly invested in the French presidential race, simply casting a vote might not be enough - instead there is a wide range of branded merchandise from the candidates. Here is our pick of the strangest offerings.
The parties all have their ranges and other unofficial sellers have also been cashing in, with the result that you can now buy a wide range of French election momentos, from socks and T-shirts to frisbees and condoms.
Here is our pick of some of the weirder pieces of 2022 election memorabilia:
Faites Zemmour pas la guerre t-shirt
Eric Zemmour's team are selling t-shirts emblazoned with the words Faites Zemmour pas la guerre.
This is a play on words with the expression Faites l'amour pas la guerre ("Make love not war").
Considering that the far-right candidate has vowed to increase the defence budget to €70 billion by 2030 and further develop France's nuclear arsenal, the text is somewhat ironic.
There's also the fact that French investigative website Mediapart has reported on eight woman testifying to having suffered inappropriate behaviour and sexual assault by Zemmour between 1999-2019.
Zemmour began a romantic relationship with his chief campaign adviser, Sarah Knafo, in 2021 - despite being married.
« Faites #Zemmour pas la guerre ! ».
La boutique en ligne pour soutenir la candidature d’ @ZemmourEric est disponible 🚀⤵️ https://t.co/uNhtzJmnot@GenerationZ_off #DemainAvecZemmour pic.twitter.com/iZZCwYN3QP
— Stanislas Rigault (@stanislasrig) July 19, 2021
Le Pen whistle
Marine Le Pen, another far right challenger to the incumbent Emmanuel Macron also has a wide range of bizarre merchandise.
On her party's website, you can buy Rassemblement National-branded pétanque balls, bluetooth headphones and coffee cups.
You can also purchase a 2022 calendar full of pictures of Marine Le Pen (not saucy ones) and an alert whistle inscribed with the words Français Reveillez-vous (Wake up France).
Talk about dog-whistle racism
https://t.co/tWNSBlxlbh
— Sam Bradpiece 🎥✒️📸 (@Sam_Bradpiece) March 22, 2022
Candidate-themed socks
A store called Chaussettes et Compagnie, based in Lille, has capitalised on selling socks with pictures of the candidates printed above the ankle.
A pair costs €13 and you are able to choose between masked and unmasked candidates.
"Socks, like the vote, are useful," reads the company website.
"The disenchantment of the French with politics is growing. It is time to make it less anxiety-provoking and lighter."
Bon... Je pense qu'il va falloir que je commence à freiner mon soutien à Melenchon là, parce que voilà maintenant ce que les gens m'envoient par la poste. pic.twitter.com/o6ic60xcEI
— Wissam Xelka (@WXelka) March 22, 2022
Taubira jackets
Christiane Taubira, a former French Justice Minister, failed to collect enough signatures of support to even make it onto the ballot paper, withdrawing her candidacy in early March.
This was bad news for tailors in the West African country of Ivory Coast, who had clearly poured considerable effort into making suit jackets, trousers and face masks in support of the would-be candidate.
Veste, cache-nez, pantalon... Tout était prêt à Abidjan pour ce client, soutien de Christiane Taubira... Mais l'ancienne ministre de la Justice a jeté l'éponge de la course à la présidentielle. #2022 pic.twitter.com/hY6zAHHKpw
— François Hume-Ferkatadji (@EfaSheef) March 17, 2022
Historic prints of Anne Hidalgo's grand statement
The left-wing French newspaper Libération is selling archived copies of its February 4th issue for €5.
Anne Hidalgo who is competing in the race as the socialist party claims to be the "legitimate candidate" to represent the left on the front page of the paper.
The French left is catastrophically divided as the first round approaches and Hidalgo is polling at about 2 percent - behind other left-wing figures like Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Yannick Jadot and even the Communist candidate Fabien Roussel.
Hidalgo's claim to be the legitimate candidate to unite the left is looking increasingly farcical.
À la une de Libération ce vendredi :
🔴 @Anne_Hidalgo : "Je suis la candidate légitime" https://t.co/nj2k4mQp7h pic.twitter.com/J8FQia5e1C
— Libération (@libe) February 3, 2022
High end
The Elysée Palace, where French Presidents live, has its own boutique.
The goods it currently sells are largely banal symbols of French culture - Elysée-branded bags, Elysée tea, Elysée candles and wide variety of other home goods.
But a fair chunk of the stock represents an hommage to Macron. You can buy posters of the President for €9.90 or a stuffed toy version of the president's dog (Nemo) for €99.
There are also T-shirts featuring Macron's famous silhouette from his celebration of France's 2018 Football World Cup win or some of the President's trademark phrases like poudre de perlimpinpin.
It is unlikely that the site will offer goods with some of his other quips like when he said he wanted to emmerder the unvaccinated or described his fellow countrymen as fainéants (lazy), gens qui ne sont rien (nobodies), or Gaulois réfractaires (Gauls who are resistant to change).
The @Elysee has launched an online boutique and you can now buy Macron merchandise including tees with his quotes or silhouette for 55 euros.
So much for shedding his rep as a King-like President of the Rich... pic.twitter.com/FUXhEYF5oz
— Daniel Wittenberg (@DannyWittenberg) September 14, 2018
One week after Macron first launched the Elysée store in 2018, a parody site called Enlysée boutique was set up, selling goods that poke fun at the President.
Pour ces fêtes spéciales nous offrons jusqu'à 20% de réduction sur https://t.co/EvgIalacy8.
Déjà 2000€ de collectés pour les associations grâce à vous, et elles en ont bien besoin.
Partagez et achetez nos nouveaux produits disruptifs pour participer au ruissellement ! pic.twitter.com/0SvoWH7124
— Enlyseeboutique.fr (@EnlyseeBoutique) November 30, 2020
Fight for the right to party
Finally, no round up of strange French electoral mementos would be complete without mentioning the communist frisbee sold by Fabien Roussel.
For just €5 plus €3 postage you can buy one of these plastic disks with the candidate's campaign slogan, Le défi des Jours Heureux ("the challenge of happy days"), written on it. Roussel's campaign is also selling earrings, lighters and condoms.
The revolution sounds like it is going to be a party.
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The parties all have their ranges and other unofficial sellers have also been cashing in, with the result that you can now buy a wide range of French election momentos, from socks and T-shirts to frisbees and condoms.
Here is our pick of some of the weirder pieces of 2022 election memorabilia:
Faites Zemmour pas la guerre t-shirt
Eric Zemmour's team are selling t-shirts emblazoned with the words Faites Zemmour pas la guerre.
This is a play on words with the expression Faites l'amour pas la guerre ("Make love not war").
Considering that the far-right candidate has vowed to increase the defence budget to €70 billion by 2030 and further develop France's nuclear arsenal, the text is somewhat ironic.
There's also the fact that French investigative website Mediapart has reported on eight woman testifying to having suffered inappropriate behaviour and sexual assault by Zemmour between 1999-2019.
Zemmour began a romantic relationship with his chief campaign adviser, Sarah Knafo, in 2021 - despite being married.
« Faites #Zemmour pas la guerre ! ».
— Stanislas Rigault (@stanislasrig) July 19, 2021
La boutique en ligne pour soutenir la candidature d’ @ZemmourEric est disponible 🚀⤵️ https://t.co/uNhtzJmnot@GenerationZ_off #DemainAvecZemmour pic.twitter.com/iZZCwYN3QP
Le Pen whistle
Marine Le Pen, another far right challenger to the incumbent Emmanuel Macron also has a wide range of bizarre merchandise.
On her party's website, you can buy Rassemblement National-branded pétanque balls, bluetooth headphones and coffee cups.
You can also purchase a 2022 calendar full of pictures of Marine Le Pen (not saucy ones) and an alert whistle inscribed with the words Français Reveillez-vous (Wake up France).
Talk about dog-whistle racism
— Sam Bradpiece 🎥✒️📸 (@Sam_Bradpiece) March 22, 2022
https://t.co/tWNSBlxlbh
Candidate-themed socks
A store called Chaussettes et Compagnie, based in Lille, has capitalised on selling socks with pictures of the candidates printed above the ankle.
A pair costs €13 and you are able to choose between masked and unmasked candidates.
"Socks, like the vote, are useful," reads the company website.
"The disenchantment of the French with politics is growing. It is time to make it less anxiety-provoking and lighter."
Bon... Je pense qu'il va falloir que je commence à freiner mon soutien à Melenchon là, parce que voilà maintenant ce que les gens m'envoient par la poste. pic.twitter.com/o6ic60xcEI
— Wissam Xelka (@WXelka) March 22, 2022
Taubira jackets
Christiane Taubira, a former French Justice Minister, failed to collect enough signatures of support to even make it onto the ballot paper, withdrawing her candidacy in early March.
This was bad news for tailors in the West African country of Ivory Coast, who had clearly poured considerable effort into making suit jackets, trousers and face masks in support of the would-be candidate.
Veste, cache-nez, pantalon... Tout était prêt à Abidjan pour ce client, soutien de Christiane Taubira... Mais l'ancienne ministre de la Justice a jeté l'éponge de la course à la présidentielle. #2022 pic.twitter.com/hY6zAHHKpw
— François Hume-Ferkatadji (@EfaSheef) March 17, 2022
Historic prints of Anne Hidalgo's grand statement
The left-wing French newspaper Libération is selling archived copies of its February 4th issue for €5.
Anne Hidalgo who is competing in the race as the socialist party claims to be the "legitimate candidate" to represent the left on the front page of the paper.
The French left is catastrophically divided as the first round approaches and Hidalgo is polling at about 2 percent - behind other left-wing figures like Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Yannick Jadot and even the Communist candidate Fabien Roussel.
Hidalgo's claim to be the legitimate candidate to unite the left is looking increasingly farcical.
À la une de Libération ce vendredi :
— Libération (@libe) February 3, 2022
🔴 @Anne_Hidalgo : "Je suis la candidate légitime" https://t.co/nj2k4mQp7h pic.twitter.com/J8FQia5e1C
High end
The Elysée Palace, where French Presidents live, has its own boutique.
The goods it currently sells are largely banal symbols of French culture - Elysée-branded bags, Elysée tea, Elysée candles and wide variety of other home goods.
But a fair chunk of the stock represents an hommage to Macron. You can buy posters of the President for €9.90 or a stuffed toy version of the president's dog (Nemo) for €99.
There are also T-shirts featuring Macron's famous silhouette from his celebration of France's 2018 Football World Cup win or some of the President's trademark phrases like poudre de perlimpinpin.
It is unlikely that the site will offer goods with some of his other quips like when he said he wanted to emmerder the unvaccinated or described his fellow countrymen as fainéants (lazy), gens qui ne sont rien (nobodies), or Gaulois réfractaires (Gauls who are resistant to change).
The @Elysee has launched an online boutique and you can now buy Macron merchandise including tees with his quotes or silhouette for 55 euros.
— Daniel Wittenberg (@DannyWittenberg) September 14, 2018
So much for shedding his rep as a King-like President of the Rich... pic.twitter.com/FUXhEYF5oz
One week after Macron first launched the Elysée store in 2018, a parody site called Enlysée boutique was set up, selling goods that poke fun at the President.
Pour ces fêtes spéciales nous offrons jusqu'à 20% de réduction sur https://t.co/EvgIalacy8.
— Enlyseeboutique.fr (@EnlyseeBoutique) November 30, 2020
Déjà 2000€ de collectés pour les associations grâce à vous, et elles en ont bien besoin.
Partagez et achetez nos nouveaux produits disruptifs pour participer au ruissellement ! pic.twitter.com/0SvoWH7124
Fight for the right to party
Finally, no round up of strange French electoral mementos would be complete without mentioning the communist frisbee sold by Fabien Roussel.
For just €5 plus €3 postage you can buy one of these plastic disks with the candidate's campaign slogan, Le défi des Jours Heureux ("the challenge of happy days"), written on it. Roussel's campaign is also selling earrings, lighters and condoms.
The revolution sounds like it is going to be a party.
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