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The French Election Explained Through Haribo Candy Is Actually Kind Of Perfect

Marine Le Pen, the far-right National Front candidate, is black licorice: "Everyone pretends to hate it, but millions are sold each year."

Posted on February 23, 2017, at 11:22 a.m. ET

France goes to the polls this April for the first round of voting in its presidential election, and many are watching to see if the country will join a global wave of populist nationalism.

Benoit Tessier / Reuters

Supporters attend a political rally for François Fillon, a right-wing candidate from the Les Républicains party, in Margny-les-Compiegne, France, Feb. 15, 2017.

If you haven't been following the election, this series of viral tweets by French law student @NikiShey, comparing the candidates to different kinds of Haribo candy, will catch you up.

Haribo USA / Via Facebook: HariboUSA

Here's Niki's take on Marine Le Pen, the far-right National Front candidate and Trump fan: "Marine Le Pen is black licorice. Everyone pretends to hate it, but millions are sold each year. Not good."

@NikiShey MLP - réglisse. -tout le monde prétend détester ça -pourtant il s'en vend des millions chaque année -pas…

Emmanuel Macron, a former member of President François Hollande’s cabinet now running as an independent, is the sweet-and-sour version of Tagada, one of the most popular candies in France: "The promise of innovation and novelty, but after two minutes it tastes the same as the classic Tagada. A scam."

@NikiShey Macron-Tagada qui pik -promesse d'innovation et nouveauté -mais le gout redevient celui du tagada classiq…

François Fillon, the right-wing Les Républicains party candidate dogged by a scandal over payments made to his wife, is Hari Croco: "The classic, you were counting on it. You get nauseous after eating more than two. You don't dare throw away the package."

@NikiShey Fillon - Croco -le classique, tu comptais sur lui -t'as eu la nausée quand t'en as mangé plus de deux -t'…

According to Niki, Green candidate Yannick Jadot is Star Mint: "Nobody knows it. Nobody has tried it. Nobody wants to try it."

@NikiShey Yannick Jadot - star mint -personne connait -personne n'a jamais goûté -personne ne souhaite goûter

Benoît Hamon, the Socialist Party candidate, is Dragibus jelly beans: "Colorful and tangy. Don't know if you love it or hate it. In doubt, you leave it on the shelf."

@NikiShey Hamon - Dragibus -coloré, acidulé -t'arrives pas à savoir si tu adores ou si tu détestes -dans le doute…

Centrist François Bayrou, who toyed with running but recently announced he would support Macron, is gummy Fried Eggs: "It's existed since you were born, not bad but not good either, useless but not disturbing."

@NikiShey Bayrou - oeufs -ça existe depuis que t'es né -pas mauvais mais pas bon non plus -inutile mais pas dérange…

And the far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon is the sour strawberry Pasta Basta: "It's got a bit of a kick to it. It changes, you like it. But not more than two, let's remain serious. RED."

@NikiShey Melenchon-Pasta Basta -ça pique, ça change t'aimes bien -mais pas plus de 2, restons sérieux -ROUGE

Niki told BuzzFeed News she wanted to do a thread on the election and came up with the idea to go with a Haribo motif.

"I went to the Haribo site and with every candy range, I immediately associated a candidate," she said. She didn't do one for all the politicians running because she didn't think her tweets would go viral, but said maybe she'll continue her comparisons for the others.

This post was translated from French.
