As elections loom, millennials tired of leaders who do not represent them find happiness in spoof social media personalities

With their moustaches, traditional headwear and big campaign promises, Nurhadi and Aldo resemble almost any other politician. But, as Indonesia heads towards a presidential election, looks can be deceiving.

The two presidential candidates are in fact fictional.

Created by a group of disaffected millennials, they have struck a chord with young voters and their social media profiles, which regularly lampoon mainstream politics, have attracted almost 400,000 followers on Instagram and thousands on Twitter and Facebook since their creation last month.

In what has so far shaped up to be a lacklustre election campaign, Nurhadi and Aldo have become best known for their vulgar campaign tagline, a creative abbreviation of the last few letters of their names to make “Dildo for Indonesia”.

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“I see this movement as a breath of fresh air for our politics,” says Edwin, one of the creators, told the Guardian. “It is a new perspective, a new way to enjoy politics, and the drama of elite politicians who always argue, but don’t actually represent us.

“I was really looking forward to hearing from our candidates, but mostly they don’t show us their programs, or generate solutions for our problems.”

The world’s third-largest democracy heads to the polls in April, and millennials will account for 80 out of 187 million voters, but some young voters are not enthused about the choices in front of them.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Indonesian president Joko Widodo, left, and running mate Ma’ruf Amin speak at the first televised debate in Jakarta on Thursday. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

On Thursday night in the first of five presidential debates – focused on law, human rights, terrorism and corruption – neither candidate veered much off script, with analysts suggesting they failed to articulate creative visions for some of Indonesia’s most deep-rooted problems.

President Joko Widodo’s controversial pick for running mate, 75-year-old Islamic cleric Ma’ruf Amin, who has advocated support for fatwas against religious minorities, LGBT people and even yoga, barely managed a few words, although when he did he made them count, saying “terrorism is not jihad”.

His rival, the former military general Prabowo Subianto, avoided talk of past human rights violations, of which he stands accused, arguing the wages of civil servants should be increased to discourage corruption.

The Nurhadi and Aldo accounts appropriate the classic Indonesian campaign aesthetic, a pious-looking candidate pictured next to their ballot number, or a lofty social program, often abbreviated into a catchy acronym.

Nurhadi and Aldo take shelter from the rain. Photograph: Nurhadi and Aldo

They mock the political formula, often using vulgarity. One policy for an internet subsidy program, “Program Subsidi Tagihan Warnet Bagi Umum” is cut into “Prostat Bau”, meaning “smelly prostate”.

Others posts mock the conflict of interest between Indonesian media ownership and political parties, or use a caricature of Karl Marx, a satirical stab at Indonesia’s paranoia of communism, which is banned.

Nurhadi and Aldo are also pro LGBT rights and have a “halal” program to legalise marijuana – both unthinkable in Indonesia’s current political climate.

Edwin, who is a college student from central Java and asked that the Guardian use his first name only, said he created the candidates with the help of seven other young people he met through an online comedy page after becoming fed up with this year’s presidential candidates.

A masseur from the Javanese town of Kudus agreed to lend his face to the campaign as Nurhadi, while Aldo is pure fiction, a mash-up of two different faces.

‘The young generation are not really satisfied’

Pangeran Siahaan, the founder of Asumsi, a YouTube channel that includes a weekly political talk show, says that after Amin’s candidacy was announced some young voters started to consider abstaining from the vote. He says: “I think Dildo For Indonesia, that counter movement, was started because there is some part of the young generation that are not really satisfied.”

With voters aged 17-40 accounting for about 40% of the electorate, both presidential candidates have tried hard to appeal to young voters, especially online.

“I think both candidates are trapped in what I call ‘viral and meme politics’ because they want to be viral and well distributed on social media because they think that is where millennials read their content,” explains Pangeran, “But if you take a look deeper, it is nothing but cosmetic.”

Wearing sneakers or including a pop culture reference in a political speech, he adds, hasn’t worked for them either because: “The millennials don’t buy it.”

Behind the dirty references masked as political visions, Edwin says their satirical account has a serious agenda.

By showing how easy it is to replicate a vacuous political campaign he hopes voters will think twice about their choices. “We are here to provide humour but also education about how to choose a great leader and be a critical thinker,” he says, “So Nurhadi-Aldo are doing something other candidates are not.”