Sarkozy Was There

About

Sarkozy was there (Sarkozy y était) is an exploitable macro series based on a snapshot of the French president Nicolas Sarkozy uploaded via his official Facebook page in November 2009. Allegedly taken on the evening that E. German officials opened up the gate to West (November 6, 1989), the photograph shows a young Sarkozy taking part in the historic Fall of Berlin Wall. But as the French media began to scrutinize the authenticity of the photograph, what could’ve been a kodak moment for the Élysée palace quickly fell fodder to instant lulz.

Origin

On November 8th, 2009, a photograph of Nicolas Sarkozy chipping away at the Berlin Wall surfaced on his Facebook^[1] photo album with the following description:

“We were fascinated with all the news coming in from Berlin, something major was about to happen. We went to the Brandenburger Tor, saw that there were many people already there, so we went through Checkpoint Charlie to the East Side of the wall, where we demolished a part with a pickaxe”.

But on the same day, Alain Auffray, who blogs for the French newspaper Libération, pointed out that Sarkozy’s attendance on that evening was unlikely, since there was no advance warning of the East German announcement before the 6 o’clock news and “West Berliners didn’t begin to attack the wall until the following day, the 10th.”

Eventually, French journalists produced archival footage" from November 1989, showing that Sarkozy actually visited Berlin Wall on Nov. 16th, rather than a week earlier on 9th. Amid the intense scruitny of this Facebook debacle came an anonymous comment, setting the proper tone for this photoshop meme:

“And Sarkozy was on the moon, Sarkozy liberated Paris, Sarkozy won an olympic medal…”

Spread

Instantly striking a chord with other Sarko-skeptics, a wild foray of photoshopped images surfaced on the French web, jesting that Sarkozy stood as an eyewitness to all the major events throughout modern history.

Notable Examples

More in the Photos section.

Nicolas Sarkozy’s Public Image

Since stepping into office in 2007, Mr. Sarkozy has had a strenuous relationship with the French media and paparazzi in maintaining his public image. Dubbed by local media as “Bling Bling President,” The 54 year old clean-cut politician has been criticized for his stormy behaviors and borderline obsessive control over his image, especially his scandalous run-ins with the French news editors. Reciprocally, French citizen news sites like Le Post and traditionally left daily Libération picked up the buzz and held photoshop contests.

Links to Original Threads

Cassiopaea forum thread
Le Post Photoshop Thread (French)
Liberation Photoshop Thread (French)
Kiff Attitude thread (French)

^[1] Facebook – Nicolas Sarkozy