A mayor in southern Mexico deployed a novel idea to deal with a busy schedule: sending a life-sized cardboard cutout of himself to ‘attend’ a public health event he couldn’t get to. Locals, though, were less than impressed.

Moisés Aguilar Torres, the mayor of the town of Pichucalco in Chiapas, told his staff to arrange for the cardboard stand-in to be created and brought to public events he can’t attend.

The cutout depicts the mayor, who was a registered nurse before turning to politics, dressed in a blue shirt, stepping forward with one hand raised in a fist.

Moises Aguilar Torres, NO asiste a ningún evento y en su lugar envía una foto de él, en tamaño normal. Es alcalde de uno de los municipios de Chiapas, pero él no se rebaja y no asistirá, a lugares "Chusma" como Pichucalco, de donde es alcalde. Así soy y qué ? dijo... pic.twitter.com/V3M4RIo8IW — Chikistrakiz (@chikistrakiz) October 6, 2019

According to local reports, the residents had been hoping to meet with the politician in person to discuss concerns around the completion of municipal projects and were stunned to instead be faced with a printed version of the man himself.

Photos from the event shared on social media show locals posing with the cutout, some looking decidedly unamused, while the online reactions to the stunt ranged from sharing the facepalm emoji to demanding a better explanation from the politician for such behavior.

At least one person thought it was actually quite a good idea “if you don’t want to go somewhere.”

It’s the first time such a device has been deployed by a politician in Chiapas, and the city council hasn’t determined yet if the cutout will be used in future events in lieu of the mayor’s attendance.

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