Putin the sex symbol
One of Vladimir Putin's creepier achievements is his success in setting himself up as a sex symbol. The funniest example of this was in 2002, when the Kremlin created a girl-band to sing "I want a man like Putin" (audio, BBC report.
My boyfriend is in trouble once again: Got in a fight, got drunk on something nasty I've had enough and I chased him away And now I want a man like Putin
Now his ever-adventurous PR department have come up with these charming T-shirts - slogan "I want Putin....for a third term": 
How did all this strangeness come about? Maybe Putin really does seem incredibly sexy, but maybe it's just that - unlike plenty of other Russian politicians - he lacks obvious personal vices. I've heard it explained along the lines that "he's not an alcoholic or a wife-beater; isn't that enough?"