A visit last Tuesday to Chelsea neighborhood’s Apple Store in New York included a bizarre site – a massive image of Vladimir Putin, Russia’s President, embracing a pregnant Donald Trump.
The huge image covered the entire side of Apple’s retail store, located on the corner of 15th Street and Ninth Avenue.
The stunt, pulled off by the app Hater – a dating app that builds matches based on users mutual hatred of things – was coordinated specifically in time for Valentine’s Day. The disturbing, hilarious image of Trump and Putin was displayed alongside Hater’s logo – a hashtag stating “Love Through Hate” with an upside-down heart shape. Of Hater’s hundreds of thousands of users, it is estimated that almost 80 percent of them share a hatred for President Trump.
The company’s founder and CEO, Brenden Alper, released an email statement noting the high amounts of tension occurring on each side of politics. He continued, “We’re just trying to make people laugh. Through humor, hate can turn into love.”
The image of Trump and Putin in Chelsea is just one of several. An additional copy of the display is projected on 14th Street and Eighth Avenue next to CVS and a subway stop.
A third image was put on display in the Brooklyn’s Williamsburg area near North Sixth Street and Wythe Avenue..