ELECTION TIME IS ALWAYS silly season, but at least Europeans aren't afraid to let some of that silliness spill onto their election posters. In the following I've made another selection of placards from recent elections that are clever, silly, and sometimes downright bizarre. They each say something about the society in which they were created, although just what that "something" might be is open to interpretation.

From Ireland's Fine Gael Party, urging the Irish
to vote in favor of the EU's Lisbon Treaty

 
A female version expressing the same basic idea

 
"Work is sh*t!"
From Germany's semi-serious Anarchistic Pogo Party,
"the party of riffraff and welfare queens"

 
"Sex in the workplace is great!
Too bad that 5 million Germans can't enjoy it"
This poster from the Christian Democratic youth organization in Wittmund imitates an SPD poster

 
This British Labour Party Poster from 2001 warns against a
return to the Conservatives using "Mission Impossible"
style graphics

 
"Brandenburg is sexy! Have a great vacation!"
From Germany's Christian Democratic Union.
The woman's torso is shaped like the state of Brandenburg

 
"You can't always recognize Nazis at first glance.
Act up against the Right instead of looking away."
From the German Green Party

 
"Everything for the future... and nothing to hide.
Poland is a woman."
A wildly controversial poster from the Polish Women's Party

 
From the Scottish National Party

 
"Don't take the wrong ship again. Red-black has failed.
This time, vote Green."
From the German Green Party

 
From the Danish Social Democratic youth organization, 2007

 
"Black lace"
Promoting the Christian Democratic youth organization in Grafing,
Bavaria (black symbolizes the conservative CDU)

"WOMEN. Only Green can help us out of the crisis."
From the German Green Party

 
"Your blue eyes make me so sentimental.
Such blue eyes...!"
From Austria's Liberal Forum
(Actually, I suspect this one is a parody of a more
serious poster using the same photo)

 
"Green works.
We'll do it right away [or: We'll establish equality]!
Equal rights for lesbians, gays, and straights."
From the German Green Party

 
"I promise you 400,000 jobs."
Featuring Tania Derveaux, a Senate candidate from Belgium's
"Nee" (No) protest party. And yes, you've already guessed what kind
of "jobs" she's referring to

 
"The first time.
Close your eyes when kissing.
Open your eyes when voting!"
From Germany's former Party of Democratic Socialism

 
"Enough of these a** faces!"
Porn star Milly D'Abbraccio's Socialist Party campaign
poster for the 2008 Italian elections

 
"No votes for neo-Nazis!"
From the German Green Party, which has
developed a very clever anti-fascist logo

"Disarming."
This poster from the Dutch Pacifistic Socialist Party dates back to 1971 but still effectively gets its point across

 
"Good politics for your ass!
Hamburg can do it better.
More passion for our city."
From the German Green Party. This local poster promises
equal rights for gays and lesbians

 
From the Swiss People's Party.
Yes, this poster has been vandalized!

 
"The red ones are the best!"
From Germany's Left Party

"Are you voting for the Left or the Right?"
Last spring, people in Brussels thought this was yet another vulgar
political poster, but it turned out to have been put up
by an advertising agency

 
"Let's do it! ...Straight into the state parliament!"
From Germany's Green Party

 
"Don't you want to get rid of the Bavarians too?
Then vote for the Bavaria Party: For a Germany without Bavaria."
This one is a hit in Berlin!

"Be beautiful and vote."
Although printed in French, this poster was actually aimed
at middle class women in Lebanon. Is it persuasive
or merely patronizing? You decide.

 
"Give our private sphere a break.
IT'S ABOUT TIME."
From the German Green Party

"Here you can stop thinking about us for a while and enjoy the water"
The Czech Civic Democrats look for votes on Croatian beaches

 
"Dogs must be kept on a leash."
Whoever put this poster up wasn't paying attention

 
"Vote for Ströbele."
From the German Green Party in Berlin's Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district. The hippy poster is alive and well!

 
The popular Ströbele is competing against Vera Lengsfeld's
infamous cleavage poster. Apparently nearly all of
the original 750 copies have since been stolen by collectors

 
I'll admit that this one is a bit out of date, but it
seems to fit the current political climate in America