Whatever Russian President Vladimir Putin touches turns to gold, even a cat's bottom — at least that's what the owners of a candy store in Russia's Ural region seem to think.
The shop in Yekaterinburg, a city east of the Urals, has started selling chocolate bars wrapped in cream-colored packaging featuring a cheeky cartoon sketched by President Vladimir Putin, the Znak.ru news site reported Monday.
The child-like drawing of a cat from behind was penned by Putin during a visit to a school in the Kurgan region in September 2013. When asked by one puzzled pupil what the picture was, Putin reportedly replied: "It's a cat. The rear view."
In a nod to the president, manufacturers have printed these very same words underneath the image of the cat's bottom and have also signed the sketch "Vova, aged 60," using a diminutive form of the name Vladimir.
Last year, the same shop launched a series of "President" chocolate bars — promoting the Russian leader's soft side — with the wrapper for the dark chocolate bar featuring a crying Putin and its milk version showing Putin hugging a puppy.
Putin's spokesman Dmity Peskov said in November that the president disproved of the use of his image for commercial reasons.
He added, however, that the presidential administration would not be cracking down on manufacturers using Putin's likeness as "it's not the main issue on the day's agenda," the Izvestia daily reported.
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