The influential U.S. journal Foreign Policy has set tongues wagging with a photo gallery in its May/June issue titled, "14 Hairless Cats That Look Like Vladimir Putin."
The magazine admits that the collection of pictures is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the changing tastes of readers who might prefer to get their news from sources like Ben Smith's "11 BuzzFeed Lists That Explain the World."
"The FP staff decided to look at the world through BuzzFeed's eyes for a day," says a short article accompanying the 14 photos of Putin and the hairless cats.
The pictures include cats posing in bow ties, sunglasses and a fur coat beside photos of Putin wearing similar apparel.
Readers offered mix reviews of the effort, with some saying Foreign Policy had sunk to a low and shouldn't compare a man with an animal.
"Foreign Policy: You really lost my respect as "reasonable critical magazine," wrote one reader.
But others suggested that those who took offense should lighten up.
"I feel bad for all the people who cannot accept some humor in a respected publication once in a while," a reader wrote.
Photo collections of Putin are popular online and perhaps have been encouraged by Putin himself, who has posed barechested in Siberia, diving in the Black Sea and, most recently, romping with his dogs in the snow in March.
Foreign Policy's Putin photo collection was the most popular page on its website late Monday, but by Tuesday morning it had been passed by another Buzzfeed-style collection: "7 Things North Korea Is Really Good At."
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