Self-caricature as a political strategy: Case of the presidential candidate Rafael López Aliaga

This research seeks to analyze the role of parody and self-caricature as a humorous strategic element in electoral campaigns. The aim is to analyze the way in which the candidates build a character or caricature of themselves based on a nickname given to them by public opinion, due to their physical resemblance to a fictional or real character. This is the case of presidential candidate Rafael López Aliaga and his caricature of the Looney Toons character “Porky”. What starts out as a simple prank then progresses into creating a character and a custom brand. The present study focuses on evaluating the perception of this character in the voters of the city of Lima and how he managed to change the perception that was initially held of the candidate, as well as analyzing the symbology behind the electoral branding used by the candidate.

Self-caricature and self-parody describe the use of humor as a strategy adopted by the politician himself or his advisers. Through parody or caricature, a candidate seeks to humanize himself and get closer to the voter through the positive emotions that arise through humor. A politician who intentionally directs humor towards himself through parody or satire seeks to create a more horizontal bond with his constituents (Young, 2018). We are interested in studying whether, in the case of presidential candidate Rafael López Aliaga, self-directed humor generated any change in the perceptions voters initially had about the candidate.
It is essential to find out if the characteristics and attributes of the adopted character are perceived as positive by the voters and add to the candidate. By creating the character "Porky", Rafael López Aliaga blends in with him thanks to his physical resemblance, and can also adopt the behavioral traits of the comic figure. The research proposes to characterize the character of Porky and the symbology used during his actions in the media and social networks, whether it is the pet that accompanied him to his electoral events or the behavior of the candidate himself in reference to Porky. The main research question, however, revolves around how Lima voters perceived the use of such self-caricature in the media.