A photo of actress Emilia Clarke, who plays Daenerys Targaryen on HBO’s Game Of Thrones, was misused in an election ad for United Russia politician Yakov Silin, according to the Daily Mail. The ad, which is for Silin’s campaign for Mayor of the industrial city of Yekaterinburg, identifies the 26-year-old British actress as a 24-year-old local woman named Anya and was used without permission.

In the ad, which contains an anti-rape message, “Anya” states, “I now have confidence that the city is safe, that no-one will attack me or rape me,” along with other quotes about how she’s “not afraid to walk at night in Yekaterinburg.”

Russian web users immediately saw past the farce and reportedly bombarded Silin’s website with sarcastic messages about the ad, which shows Clarke with her natural brunette locks as opposed to the platinum blonde tresses she sports as the Mother of Dragons on Game Of Thrones.

Here’s a screenshot of the ad, posted by the Daily Mail, along with translation:

According to the Daily Mail, the unnamed creators of the ad eventually admitted they used Clarke’s likeness without her permission and on purpose to strengthen the message of their “Capital” program for Yekaterinburg, the fourth-largest city in Russia: “We selected a famous and beautiful actress on purpose, to make it clear that this is a fantasy.”

According to Silin’s website, “The first phase of the program “Capital” provides funding for improvement of Yekaterinburg, repair of city streets and courtyards and construction of road junctions,” so in case it’s unclear, the quotes from “Anya” in the ad are meant to stress how the city is not safe (that it’s a “fantasy”), hence why the Vladimir Putin-backed mayoral candidate is pushing this “Capital” program platform. (I see a lot of commenters online, as well as bloggers, thinking that Silin’s ad means he believes the city is so safe that women can walk around at night without worry.)

Clarke has yet to make a public statement about the use of her likeness in the ad or if she’ll take Silin’s team up on their offer for her to visit, which they’d better hope she doesn’t come to with her dragons – they aren’t as forgiving as she is.

[Source: Daily Mail via Uproxx]

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