A female candidate for a local position in Taipei, Taiwan, recently became the butt of social media jokes, after people noticed that she looked nothing like the woman on her campaign posters.
The world of politics is no stranger to image editing software, as many politicians turn to programs like Photoshop to make themselves look better in campaign posters. However, PR people sometimes overdo it to the point where the editing is obvious even to the untrained eye. And then there are cases like that of Wang Zhiya, a politician running for a position on Taipei’s City Council, whose campaign posters look absolutely nothing like her.
Photo: Wang Zhiya/Faceboook
The difference between real-life Wang and her depiction on campaign posters first drew people’s attention when the candidate uploaded some photos of herself posing next to her posters, on her Facebook profile. Anyone could see that the woman pictured on them looked nothing like Wang, so they started joking about it.
“Oh, is she helping her granddaughter run for office?” one Facebook user commented on her photo.
“Which one is the candidate,” someone else jokingly asked.
Photo: Wang Zhiya/Faceboook
Soon, the photos went viral, and were eventually picked up my news websites as well, leaving Wang with no choice but to respond to the ridicule. She was a good sport about it, though, writing that the campaign for City Council had taken a heavy toll on her appearance. She also promised to do right by her photo editor and go to a gym after the campaign is over, so she can achieve a look closer to the posters.
“Reality is cruel, Photoshop is always beautiful,” Wang Zhiya added.
Photo: Wang Zhiya/Faceboook
Most of the photos of the candidate next to her unrealistic political posters have been removed from her Facebook page, but not before being massively shared online. However, the posters themselves have not been replaced, as Wang herself admitted that their cost cannot be recuperated.
We’ve seen worse use of Photoshop in politics though. Yesterday we wrote about a Brazilian mayor who was sloppily photoshopped into a picture along with his deputy to show they had visited a construction site.
