Far-right presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen has been left red-faced this week after it was revealed by a French blogger that a “homeless man” she used to slate Sarkozy turned out to be an American actor posing for a photo shoot.

Did Marine Le Pen really need an American actor to pose as a French homeless person for her campaign? Apparently so. The far-right presidential hopeful actually paid an American website to supply her with a photo of a “homeless” person in order to argue…. that there are too many homeless people in France.

Below, the campaign poster, which reads “5 million unemployed, 8 million poor. Is this what Sarkozy was elected for?”

And here, the original photo, on sale for the measly sum of $2 on a cruddy American photo stock website.

Dig a little deeper into the cringe-inducing collection and we find our tramp actor assuming all sorts of roles.

But there’s more.

After dishing out $2 for the world’s only photo of a homeless person, Le Pen’s campaign team discovered a cheaper way to get their anti-Sarkozy messages across.

Flickr.

Keep reading the same poster and we’re presented with the heartbreaking image of an abandoned factory, unable to keep its doors open because of Sarkozy’s reckless anti-industry policies.

Well, not quite. As stated in the title of the photo, posted on Flickr by user Slinky2000 in January 2008, the disused factory in question is actually in Lurgan, Northern Ireland.

Interesting to note that this photo is available for use under the Creative Commons license, which clearly states that the name of the author must be provided if the photo is reproduced. Come on Team Marine – read up before you right-click!