Chewing ties, Saakashvili style

Mass production of tasty, chewable neck ties has begun in Georgia. Now, everyone who wants to can emulate the country’s president whose appetite for nervous necktie-chewing has become legendary.

The innovative product first appeared on the personal live journal page of Andrei Ilarionov, a Russian politician and economist. The very first edible neck ties were demonstrated at Inliberty summer camp in Georgia and were presented as prizes to lucky essay contest winners.   “Edible tie, for reformists” –  reads the tag attached to the new product.  Chewing the tie is said to “help its buyer reform his life and improve living conditions, as well as stimulate an appetite for freedom and democracy”. The tie will also help you “cure authoritarian obsessions and cope with a Soviet mentality.”

The product has been patented and is ready to be launched on an unsuspecting public. However, the identity of the manufacturer remains unknown. Neckties became the butt of jokes in Georgia in 2008, when the country’s leader, Mikhail Saakashvili, displayed a curious fondness for the garments. It emerged that the Georgian president had used his tie as an anti-stress pill during important telephone talks.