Useful or useless?

Gifts from politicians: what sticks with voters

(Bild: Christof Birbaumer, zVg)

Gifts preserve friendship: this is especially true in times of elections. The "Krone" examined how creative the parties are ahead of the municipal council and mayoral elections in Innsbruck. Almost all the "give-aways" have one thing in common. 

More Neos, less Sorry: this slogan on a Neos jute sack refers most clearly to the past six years in Innsbruck. Politics has indeed performed a number of stunts for which certain proponents should actually apologize to the electorate. Everyone in the voting booth this Sunday will not be able to check off which ones.

Women's issues of the Neos: Tampons as an election gift 
The Neos are not "schmähstad" in any other way either: in addition to a seat pad for the sun deck, the "give-aways", as the little election helpers are also called, also include energy boosters such as glucose. A small bag with the inscription "For a pink municipal council period" contains tampons, but the budget or imagination was no longer sufficient for an equally useful gift for the men. The small cool bag for cold drinks is also really useful for hot days on the sun deck. It will go down well with students when they are presented with it during the street campaign.

Greens (also) focus on content
The Greens also hope the same for their arsenal of campaign workers. Compared to the Neos, they offer more substance: flyers with a lot of content on the back, leaflets with the Green candidates, even a printed party program is handed out. Scope: 90 pages. Soap, lip balm and a flower seed mixture round off the offer.

Election sweets that (perhaps) last a lifetime
Johannes Anzengruber seems to have the most extensive portfolio of election gifts. At least it is the most fragrant: the jute sack exudes the scent of lavender from small bags. There is also a recipe booklet, flyers with "Our visions for a more liveable Innsbruck", stickers, balloons, YES badges, windmills, beer mats and a salad servers. And of course the classic election sweets.

SPÖ: "I paint the world the way I like it!"
"That's enough of this fuss," says SPÖ candidate Elisabeth Mayr, who can also be found online under the hashtag "ellimayor" - for mayor. She can leave an election program on door handles in a practical format, similar to the door handle signs in hotels ("please do not disturb"). Street crayons with the words "I paint the world the way I like it" bring back memories of Pippi Longstocking. Probably no coincidence, she had strength and courage, as Elli Mayr also claims. The candidates can be found on postcards with glossy pictures, the SPÖ gift bag also contains a party program in XL format, adorned with a large Mayr portrait, and a cardboard package with tubers of earth: These are flower seeds in a ball of soil. Pretty dusty!

The color orange is twice as popular 
Red dominates for the SPÖ, orange for Florian Tursky. He hands out a folder for candidates on his support committee, another for his 10-point program, business cards, glasses cleaning cloths and Pez sugar. The rest of the repertoire is all too familiar: Matches, pens, balloons and beer mats. A practical approach: Tursky uses a Tursky paper sack dangling from the handle instead of a large jute sack.

The second orange in the group is Team Gerecht: here you can dust off a "comfort unlocker" for the shopping cart, a bright orange container filled with plasters and TicTacs in three flavors. In terms of printed materials, a folder has been prepared - with the title: "Our name is our program".

Herbert Kickl brand credit card protector 
The FPÖ has also reached deep into its gift box this time. They also provided seasonally appropriate and useful items such as a fan against hot air, sunglasses and a bubble wand for XL bubbles. Coolies, lighters (with an imprint of regional party leader Markus Abwerzger) and beer mats with more or less original slogans ("So a stale Willi is not our beer!") are part of the standard repertoire. The FPÖ is the only party in our compilation in which the federal party also contributes a souvenir: it is a Herbert Kickl brand credit card protector: "This card protects you from electronic data theft", can be read on the front. "Place this card between a maximum of ten credit or cash cards in your purse or wallet near the cards to be protected. All cards within a radius of up to 4 cm are protected against electronic reading."

No indication of regional origin
The "Krone" has not tested the functionality of the individual "gimmicks". The compilation also makes no claim to completeness. What is striking is that the regional origin of the products does not play a role. At least there is no indication of this anywhere.