Andronicos Zervides, an independent candidate for the 2024 European Parliament elections sent out a press release on Monday to clarify the background leading to the selection of his campaign logo featuring a “cute puppy”.
Zervides, a former presidential candidate said “Since our beloved Cyprus became an independent nation in 1960, the words ‘cute’ and ‘Cypriot politics’ have never appeared together in the same sentence until today.”
He claimed that the first draft of his campaign logo, created with artificial intelligence (see below) was rejected by the Ministry of Interior because it included an olive branch.
“Although they agreed that the Cypriot flag doesn’t depict a giant pigeon, it does show an olive branch, and its use could understandably confuse voters due to its similarity” he said.
The candidate stressed that the second draft of his campaign logo, featuring “a cute puppy peacefully resting on a hot dog bun” was also rejected.
“They objected, stating that there was an implication that I supported the consumption of raw cute puppies, something that could deeply offend the entirety of Cyprus,” Zervides noted.
“I appealed the decision, arguing that the AKEL logo includes a giant hammer, which could imply violence against cute puppies and non-communists. Additionally, I pointed out to the Ministry of Interior that the ELAM logo features a giant sword, which could imply violence against cute puppies or illegal immigrants,” he clarified.
However his appeal was rejected, so he settled for a close-up of the original “cute puppy’s” face.
