For some weird reason, Belgium’s embattled prime minister, Guy Verhofstadt has launched a website targeting young kids. He appears as a blue rabbit cartoon character… Have a look at the likeness between him and the character!

Children can discover “what is a prime minister doing?” Asking him questions, and even find out him what he likes to eat! You can also find pictures of him playing football when he was a child.

This is so wrong for various reasons: the first one is: Why do you want to talk to children two weeks before an election? This is a shallow attempt to influence parent’s votes via their children.

The second question is: What does it add to the political debate? Do I know more about a candidate because he explains what he likes to eat, the sunshine? It reminds me of an article I wrote a while ago: is political marketing any different than classic marketing? Politicians should elevate the debate and find solutions to involve people more, or create structure to help collaboration. But not over simplifying the messages and creating one of the most cynical websites I have ever seen!