Chieti - 30-year-old Paride Paci, outgoing city councillor and center-left candidate for the local elections at the end of May, has opted for an unconventional form of political communication. In order to win votes, he placed advertisements on the platforms Pornhub, Tinder and Hinge. The aim was to go beyond traditional channels of political propaganda and show a presence where the attention of users is concentrated in the digital space.
Between irony and political content
The politician openly defended his strategy on his social media channels. In addition to a serious and formal account of his political work to date, he also wanted to offer a joking, sometimes irreverent narrative. „It's a narrative that tends not to take myself too seriously,“ Paci explained. However, the advertising campaign on dating apps and the adult platform is not intended to replace traditional political work, but to complement it. The candidate emphasized that offline as well as online, great importance will continue to be placed on listening, dialogue and personal encounters.
Targeted aesthetics and manageable costs
The advertising content was specially adapted to the respective platforms. While the video on Pornhub deliberately plays with ambiguous terms and the site's typical use of language, the ads on the dating platforms pick up on the familiar aesthetics of Tinder and Hinge. Users are invited to take a few seconds to make a political proposal. According to Paci, the costs for the one-month campaign amount to 300 to 350 euros - an amount that seems low in relation to the large potential reach.
Despite the criticism that this method provoked, Paci is sticking to his strategy. The ads merely served as a communicative hook to attract the attention of a broader user base. Those who feel addressed can delve deeper into the specific content on their regular channels. Incidentally, the idea is not entirely new: Danish politician Joachim B. Olsen took a similar approach back in 2019 and made international headlines with advertisements on Pornhub.
