The French president is following the reality-star playbook this week by making public the kinds of photos that his election opponent, the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, will in no way attempt to duplicate: Emmanuel Macron posed with his shirt wide open, exposing a hirsute chest and attracting no small amount of ridicule, particularly from across the English Channel.

It was on Sunday that the suave 44-year-old president’s official photographer, Soazig de la Moissonnière, posted to Instagram the series of photos from the incumbent’s Marseille campaign trail; by Monday one of them in particular was the talk of the internet. The snapshot showed Mr. Macron lounging on a vintage, mustard-colored Vico Magistretti sofa, two cellphones to one side and a white dress shirt “with at least four more shirt buttons undone than is ever acceptable, unless actively undressing,” according to London’s Telegraph. 

If a prize were to be handed out for the sauciest response to Mr. Macron’s epic thirst-trapping, as the millennial jargon goes, that British daily would win it. 

Mr. Macron led his opponent by a mere five percentage points ahead of the first round of voting earlier this month that saw a surprising number of young voters warm to Ms. Le Pen; with his photos, it could be said that Mr. Macron is pulling out all the stops to attract them ahead of the second round next Sunday.  

For London’s Telegraph, however, the “overtly masculine” maneuver reeked of “that familiar political scent, Eau D’esperation.” 

The Times of London took two tacks: “Emmanuel Macron and the great chest hair debate,” ran one headline, while another taunted: “It’s looking a bit hairy for Macron with a week to go before election.” 

The Daily Mail echoed with, “The French election is getting hairy! Macron tries to woo younger voters with a series of ‘behind-the-scenes’ photos.” It said the French president’s distinctive new aesthetic invited comparisons to actors Sean Connery and Burt Reynolds, “both known for their bountiful chest hair.” 

The Daily Mail also took time to note some of the politics involved, reporting Mr Macron’s claim that Ms. Le Pen has a “Frexit” plan up her sleeve to follow Britain out of the European Union and create a right-wing alliance with Poland and Hungary. 

Not everyone, in the meantime, has roasted Mr. Macron’s latest photoshoot. The British website GBNews said Mr. Macron’s “hairy chest could start new fashion as Brits admit to finding Frenchman ‘sexy.’”

Of course, one man or woman’s definition of sexy could be another’s idea of crossing a line — or pulling a stunt that would never fly in America or Britain. The photos are even perceived by some in France as flirting with sexism of a kind. The only place a French woman could get away with having her chemise unbuttoned as deeply as Mr. Macron’s is on a French movie screen or a St-Tropez beach.

Whether the photo gambit will entice enough voters to keep Mr. Macron ensconced in the Élysée Palace for another term is an open question. Le Figaro reported late Tuesday in France that a reputable new poll projects Mr. Macron will beat Ms. Le Pen by 10 percentage points. The first round of voting trimmed the field of candidates to two from 12 — and now Mr. Macron and Ms. Le Pen have to bring in the 50 percent of voters who would have preferred the top spot go to other candidates no longer in the race.

In any event, if Mr. Macron deliberately wants to deliver to prospective voters a costaud look — the French term for macho — he is not the first European politician to do so. Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, made waves online last year when images were posted of the slight but swarthy Greek leader receiving his Covid shot with a lilac dress shirt open down to the navel, revealing a leather necklace and hale torso.

Then there’s the sadly irrepressible Vladimir Putin, whose public pose is often entirely shirtless. As recently as January 2018, the bare-chested dictator jumped into an icy lake north of Moscow, cameras in tow. Before that, there were famous photos of Mr. Putin shirtless on a horse. 

We can only hope that fashion tips were one thing Messrs. Macron and Putin did not exchange during their multiple phone calls, which, incidentally, Mr. Macron says have ceased, at least for now.