Voodoo dolls

News scandal 2008

Marketed by the company Tear Prod, voodoo dolls were the bestsellers of fall 2008. The idea was two dolls — each sold with a satirical booklet and twelve pins — representing Ségolène Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy with their most (in)famous lines: “Travailler plus pour gagner plus” (Work more to earn more) for Sarkozy and  “Vive le Québec libre!” (Long live Free Quebec) for Royal.  Pink for Ségolène Royal (signed by the anagram of her opponent Alain Corsozsky), blue for Nicolas Sarkozy (by Yael Rolognese), in colors to match their respective political parties, they seem to be replaying the scores of the 2007 presidential campaign: 12,000 sales for the socialist candidate, over 40,000 for the right-wing candidate. After complaining to the Court of Justice for violation of picture rights, Nicolas Sarkozy saw his case dismissed due to the right to humor and caricature — although Tear Prod are obliged to stick a label on to the box stating: “Encouraging the reader to prick the enclosed doll with the pins provided, an action implying an intention to do bodily harm— even if symbolic —, constitutes an offence against the dignity of the person of Nicolas Sarkozy.” Ségolène Royal called the decision “good news.” Some people in the UMP accuse Ségolène Royal of setting herself up as a “walking caricature.” Game over?