Mexican politician makes #campaignhashtag his official campaign hashtag - denies mistake

A politician in Mexico, running to be a state governor of Nayarit, has denied mistakenly using dummy text on promotional billboards.

Javier Zapata, of the fringe Social Encounter Party, insists that he intended to run on the campaign hashtag "#hashtagcampana", which translates as: "#campaignhashtag".

Last weekend (21 May) billboards adorned with Zapata's face shot up around the Pacific Coast state ahead of the 4 June gubernatorial elections.

They showed the socially conservative candidate looking earnestly out towards his electorate, his name in large letters and, underneath, the unlikely hashtag.

The billboards attracted instant mockery online.

But Zapata has attempted to ride out the criticism, insisting that the uber-literal hashtag was intended and, what's more, makes a profound political point.

"I'm convinced that ordinary people have more experience in creating political campaign 'hashtags' than parties themselves or the many campaign consultants that charge millions," he said, according to The Guardian.

His team has continued to employ the hashtag in their campaign.

If it was an intentional move then it is nothing short of genius – Zapata's campaign is getting far more visibility than would be expected for an outside candidate standing for a new party founded by evangelical Christians.

However, his initial slogan – employed before the mistake/stroke of genius – also had a distinctive flavour: "#PorMisBigotes", translate loosely as "because of my moustache".

Even Netflix had fun with the #campaignhashtag concept – mocking up a Frank Underwood advertisement ahead of the new House of Cards series.