Bikini car washes for Putin

He drives sweet cars. He tranquilizes tigers. He rides horses bare-chested.

Yes, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is a man’s man, and it’s driving the ladies crazy, if two pro-Putin stunts from the last week are any guide. The first came from Putin’s Army, a group of young, female Putin supporters who formed on VKontakte, Russia’s version of Facebook. They released a professionally-made video calling on "young, smart, and beautiful" girls to tear off their shirts and back a Putin campaign for the presidency. (After all, how else would you show your support? Elections?) But they may have been one-upped by a similar group called I Really Do Like Putin, who staged a bikini car wash in downtown Moscow. The women gave free car washes for Russian-made cars to show their support for Russia’s domestic car industry.

Russia Today presents the footage, followed by an attempt at banter from the anchors that almost upstages the car wash footage:

With elections a year away in Russia, the campaign wing of Putin’s establishment are relying on an unorthodox PR strategy to rebrand the party and win more (non-rigged) votes. Posters up now in central Moscow depict President Dmitri Medvedev as an armor-clad superhero, spoofing the new movie Captain America by calling Medvedev "Captain Russia: First Ruler." But it’s not clear who’s behind the Putin’s Army video. Though speculation abounds, Putin has not declared his candidacy for the presidency yet, and Kremlin authorities have strongly denied involvement.

Of course, if women tearing off their shirts doesn’t work, there’s always Putin’s chest. What a stud.