Vladimir Say Pride Is Beautiful

A reader writes:

At last night’s Webby Awards, agency M&C Saatchi NY hired a Vladimir Putin impersonator to strip down to rainbow skivvies and accept the Webby People’s Voice Award for Social Urban & City Innovation for #VirtualPride at the 18th Annual Webby Awards. The Putin impersonator entered the stage in a tear-away suit, revealing a pair of Rainbow pride underwear, and delivering his 5-word Webby speech: “Vladimir say Pride is beautiful!” in his best Russian accent. M&C Saatchi NY used its Webbys acceptance speech as another opportunity to steer attention to Russia, where LGBTQ events and public discussion were banned by the Russian Federal Assembly in late 2013. The agency hired an impersonator of Vladimir Putin – the iconic leader of Russia and its anti-gay legislation – as the perfect ironic figure to accept the award. #VirtualPride, created by M&C Saatchi NY in partnership with NYC Pride, used a custom-built geolocation app and Google Maps Street View to lead a live LGBTQ rights march through Moscow in exact step with the 2013 NYC Pride Parade, reaching over 5 million people in 94 countries around the world.

We've all had our suspicions, so this really isn't that much of a stretch!