Rise of the Viral Election Stars

A guest post from our intern, Ellie Cobbe

If you thought the French Presidential elections were all stiff suits, heated debates and name-calling, then the emergence of two viral videos in as many weeks might provide you with a pinch of light relief. In the last few days of March, a video originally taken of an American little girl named Charlotte was dubbed by a French blogger and became a worldwide hit among Francophones propelling Charlotte into the Internet hall of fame. The video, in which Charlotte is at least fair in her universal refusal to vote for any of the candidates, can be seen below:

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OziLaGGTAc0]

 

On Tuesday, a spoof video posted on the video sharing website Vimeo by singer Victoire Passage created a similar media storm. In the video, the young singer parodies a teenager with a serious crush on 60-year old Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the head of the left wing party Front de Gauche. Though Mélenchon’s publicity team have denied being involved, the suspiciously slick looking production has definitely got people talking:

 

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/40084651]