A game of fuzzy duck

If you believe the opposition,  Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński is so dour that the sound of his voice can make babies cry. However, Kaczyński is now trying to show that he and his party have a sense of humor by associating himself and his brother Lech with ducks - a popular nickname for the Kaczyńskis, whose name is close to the Polish word for duck, kaczka.

Until recently the Kaczyńskis did not seem to be capitalizing on this asset. Now, with a yellow duck as Law and Justice's (PiS) mascot, PiS' podium-thumping image could change.

Prime Minister Kaczyński unveiled the party's mascot at a pond in Warsaw's Ujazdowski Park. Then the PM handed out fluffy yellow ducks wearing blue scarves emblazoned with the PiS logo to children.

Kaczyński also called on Poles to feed the ducks, as hard times are ahead of them. He said that public life was becoming increasingly brutal, referring to the Democratic Left Alliance's (SLD) ad with the slogan "hunting for ducks."

A quick look at SLD's website shows that they prefer a different set of animals. Several ads promoting the party feature a stork, an ant, a dog, an owl, a cat and a goldfish. While the political significance of these still needs to be deciphered, it is clear that along with doves and hawks, ducks already occupy a prominent place, and not only in the political zoo.

According to psychologist Richard Wiseman, who ran a Laughlab experiment four years ago in an attempt to find the world's funniest joke, the duck is the world's funniest animal. As Wiseman told New Scientist: "If you're going to tell a joke involving an animal, make it a duck." No doubt the Prime Minister will be pleased.