A website called “Putin. First Time Is Only for Love” has released a set of campaign videos in support of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that play on the theme of girls’ first time having sex.
One video titled “Innocent Girl Wants [Her] First Time” shows an attractive young woman speaking to a doctor about “protection” for her “first time.” The doctor says that it’s right that her choice is “for love” and that he fully supports her choice.
The video then cuts to an image of a calendar on the wall with a photograph of Putin, and the doctor says, “With him, it will be safe.”
The ad concludes with the girl arriving at a polling place, implying that the “first time” the two were speaking about was voting.
Another video on the site shows a girl having a similarly suggestive conversation with a fortune-teller.
Advertising agency Aldus Adv claims credit for the idea in a message on the website, though it’s unclear whether the videos were commissioned or are an initiative of the agency. Another uncertainty is whether the videos are meant to be taken seriously or as a parody.
A message on the site says the videos are meant to encourage young people to vote because, although demonstrating has become popular, election turnout among young voters is still low. “At the moment, expressing your civic position on public squares is a trend, but going to vote in an election isn’t fashionable. It is secondary. The slogan ‘First Time Is Only for Love’ equates the importance of one’s choice of a candidate with one’s choice of a partner, as the first true choice,” it says.
Putin’s office has not commented publicly about the videos. But there have been raunchy pro-Putin campaigns with the participation of young women in the past. Last year, a calendar with pro-
Putin messages was released by female journalism students at Moscow State University in which they appear in revealing lingerie. And a video titled “I Will Rip for Putin,” also released last year, shows a young woman who says she will tear off her clothes to show support for Putin.
