Egypt: The Abou Ismail Poster Frenzy  · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Revolution 2011.
Preparations are in full swing for the presidential elections in Egypt, set for May 23 and 24, 2012, with candidates’ election posters already up on the streets. But when it comes to Hazem Salah Abou-Ismail, he sure beats all the rest in the poster frenzy. His posters are almost seen almost everywhere – from walls to cars to refrigerators to babies and even on the posters of other candidates.
Infinite number of Abou Ismail Posters
Egyptian netizens would not let the opportunity slip without poking fun at the poster bonanza.
Mohamed Hamza jokes [ar]:
@mohamad__hamza: اتوقع ان من اولويات الرئيس القادم الفقر و البطاله و ازاله بوسترات ابو اسماعيل
Randa Tawil adds [ar]:
@randatawil: دلوقتي لما تحب توصف لحد عنوان قوله إمشي طوالي مع بوسترات أبو إسماعيل بعدين هتلاقي تقاطع سيب أول بوستر و تاني بوستر و لف مع تالت بوستر يمين
Monda Salem continues [ar]:
@Mondasalem: عاجل وحصرى: وكالة ناسا لعلوم الفضاء تعلن عن اكتشاف 5000 بوستر للشيخ ابوسماعيل فوق سطح كوكب المرّيخ.
And Attiya Attiya notes [ar]:
@attiya_attiya:للمرة الثالثة خلال يومين .. أحد المواطنين يقسم لي أنه رأى بأم عينيه شارع خالي تماما من بوسترات ابو اسماعيل
It didn't stop here, as a new meme was started among Egyptian netizens, along with a tumblr account under the name “Abo-Ismail Doing Stuff.” Hundreds of other photographs were also posted both on Twitter and Facebook, where Abo Ismail is depicted to have his very own version of the popular social networking site:
Abou Ismail version of Facebook
Abo Ismail Last Supper
And even the notorious Guy Behind Omar Suleiman re-appeared, this time carrying an Abou Ismail poster:
About Ismail meets The Guy Behind Omar Soliman
Finally, people did not forget to also make fun of Abou Ismail's infamous video, in which he claimed that PEPSI stands for Pay Every Penny to Save Israel:
Post Every Poster to Save Ismail
This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Revolution 2011.