Liberace called to say

August 16, 2003 10:54 PM

Sweden has a referendum coming up on whether to join the EMU (European Economic and Monetary Union). Blah blah blah politics blah blah, but perhaps most importantly, Gayest. Pro-EU propaganda. Ever.
posted by rusty (34 comments total)

Heh, I think they hired Robert Smigel and his team to do these.
posted by skallas at 11:02 PM on August 16, 2003

I'm still trying to recover from the gheyness of all that.

Also, is it me, or is that waaay to reminiscent of "Captain Planet"?
posted by Captain_Tenille at 11:04 PM on August 16, 2003

I'll bet the design team thought this Captain Euro thing was a really great idea while they were still high.
posted by Driph at 11:14 PM on August 16, 2003

That link explains a lot , Driph. As they say: "The European Union is often perceived as a muddled, politicised and bureaucratic concept. With the help of Twelve Stars, the EU is now perceived as muddled, politicised and bureaucratic, but utterly fabulous!"
posted by rusty at 11:20 PM on August 16, 2003

Captain Euro meets Captain America.
posted by Captain_Tenille at 11:30 PM on August 16, 2003

Baddies? Baddies' Gadgets?

Yeah, like Skallas said, either they hired Robert Smigel and he's laughing up his sleeve right now - or the design team spent waaaaay too much time watching Smigel's Ambiguously Gay Duo SNL shorts and still didn't get it.
posted by orange swan at 11:41 PM on August 16, 2003

I can hardly wait for the live action film, starring Hugh Jackman as the heroic Captain Euro, who must battle evil Dr. D.Vider's circus. And I thought Hollywood had all the good ideas!
posted by panner at 11:41 PM on August 16, 2003

It isn't propaganda if it has no official status whatsoever. This appears to be a private company creating a brand for its own moneymaking purposes.

I think this bit says it all (in fact the whole page is a ludicrous pantload of self-parodying marketroid drivel):

Captain Euro featured in Eurotrash Channel 4
Captain Euro, Europe's superhero created by Twelve Stars to improve the image of the EU, appeared as a guest star in the famous Channel 4 Programme EUROTRASH hosted by Antoine De Caunes. Captain Euro and his loyal companion Europa sang and danced the E.U.R.O song in front of millions. This follows several TV appearances by Captain Euro in major global networks including CNN International, BBC World TV, TVE, CNBC, Antenne 3, Reuters, Euro News, NHK and Japan's Fuji TV.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:43 PM on August 16, 2003

The Young Conservatives of Sweden are campaigning for the Euro too. They describe their position as "Pro the European Monetary Union" (EMU). So, of course, their campaign mascot is... an emu! You can't make this stuff up.
posted by dagny at 12:07 AM on August 17, 2003

This is single-handedly the worst (and unintentionally funniest) Flash I've ever seen.

Still, it was worth the effort, if only for such classic lines as

• MERCIFUL MINERVA!
• LET'S HOPE YOU CAN HELP SOLVE OUR FROZEN MYSTERY, DONNA!
• IN AVAGDDU'S NAME, CREIWRY THE WITCH AND ELPHIN THE PRINCE SHALL BE AVENGED!
and my personal favourite...
• PREPARE TO DIE, DUMB WOLF!

Holy crap. Lousy flash, dialogue going outside of the voice balloons, broken links, you have to wait 60 seconds for the continue button to appear AND some of the flash doesn't even load (this thing has more broken links than a 3 year old MetaFilter post). This is *so* the perfect metaphor for the European Union!
posted by filmgoerjuan at 1:49 AM on August 17, 2003

what filmgoerjuan said.
posted by quonsar at 1:56 AM on August 17, 2003

Can anyone think of a good mataphor for a country where a failed businessman can rig & buy the presidential election, half the population lose power for 48 hours because of a power surge, and they stand down their air force jets the day that terrorists hijack and crash four planes into the nations financial centre?
posted by dash_slot- at 4:04 AM on August 17, 2003

I think Captain Euro is pretty cool, myself. (And more than welcome as the whole debate - particularly from the pro-euro side - has been so dull to date!).
posted by plep at 6:31 AM on August 17, 2003

so this is for kids? adults?
anyone here actually try to watch them? I found that the 10th step in the narrative of captain euro's birth is faulty, and only get an error. the medium is crap, too. makes you click on 'next' arrow every 5 secs...
posted by Busithoth at 7:08 AM on August 17, 2003

I meant to say,
what filmgoerjuan said
also
posted by Busithoth at 7:10 AM on August 17, 2003

Ah, politically-correct heroes... yeah, that'll be a hit with the kids.
posted by clevershark at 7:10 AM on August 17, 2003

I'll support anything that's represented by flamingly gay superheroes.

*waves flag*
posted by Hildegarde at 7:21 AM on August 17, 2003

Hmm. Could someone illuminate for me what makes these characters 'gay?' Speaking as an official practicing gay person (license on file), I'm not getting it (no pun). They look like typical comic book folk to me, though the Captain himself has potential after a few drinks. Then again, there's always these cheeky devils on the American side.
posted by moonbird at 7:58 AM on August 17, 2003

GOD HELP THE POOR OLD MAN!
posted by crunchland at 8:41 AM on August 17, 2003

From the other side of the fence, I'm with moonbird. I don't find this to be particularly gay, just kind of pathetic.
posted by moonbiter at 8:54 AM on August 17, 2003

I'm really not seeing how this bunch are 'gayer' than almost any other super heroes...altho' I guess they come into that special category of 'marketing wonk created.'

I'm assuming that the battle is still between the Rawhide Kid and Spider Man.

BTW, Americans - you're on pretty thin ice taking the piss out of other countries elections. (With the possible exception of Saudi Arabia, Myanmar [it's in SE Asia] & North Korea.)
posted by i_cola at 9:23 AM on August 17, 2003

Let's focus on the bad guys for a second.

Goatees are a sign of evil.

Dr D Vider is sight impaired, implying that partially blind people are evil.

Does Junior vaguely look like that character actor what's-his-name? He was big in the 70s. A Quinn Martin production?

Mala and Minot are *obviously* Irish. Oh, fine and dandy, blame the Irish. Minot can't grow a goatee, but I bet he can soccer-riot with the best of the bowler-hat-with-a-beanie-propeller crowd.

The Twins. Oh, boy. George Michael. Isn't it obvious?

Pappagallo. Okay, now I know that some parrots can be evil, but even so, picking on an endangered species? How wude.
posted by kablam at 9:43 AM on August 17, 2003

Hate to say it, there apparently is such a show as Eurotrash on Channel 4.

This must be like those damn Mentos ads--they seem so weird you almost think they're a joke...but they aren't. Those Europeans--they're whacky!
posted by adamrice at 1:05 PM on August 17, 2003

BTW--that Eurotrash link has some oddball, NSFW stuff.
posted by adamrice at 1:11 PM on August 17, 2003

You'd almost think it's a joke, and it turns out it is. Eurotrash: It's what MTV would be without mega-censorship.
posted by romanb at 1:18 PM on August 17, 2003

Superheroes are pretty gay normally, this is true. And no, this link wasn't trolling, I just thought it was really funny. And no offense to my homosexual brothers and sisters -- please take it in the spirit of humor.

PS: The title was supposed to be "Liberace called to say "Settle down there, cowboy!"" but it got truncated. Probably due to the quotes, I guess, but some kind of warning would have been appreciated.
posted by rusty at 1:19 PM on August 17, 2003

HA! I knew it was the Rawhide Kid!
posted by i_cola at 2:44 PM on August 17, 2003

Not Found
The requested URL /origins4 was not found on this server.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apache/1.3.27 Server at www.captaineuro.com Port 80

Well then.
posted by delmoi at 3:17 PM on August 17, 2003

Here's a choice quote from the page with info on useing captain euro in your marketing....
"He's friendly and he appeals to all Europeans because he's totally multicultural and non-political. In other words, he is a true European - through and through. "

Sounds about right...
posted by BackwardsHatClub at 4:07 PM on August 17, 2003

he appeals to all Europeans because he's totally multicultural and non-political

However his fear of committment of any kind is sure to displease members of the fairer sex.

Seriously, we're talking about a number of countries who were at war with one another as recently as 60 years ago. It would be naive to think that all these countries could develop any sort of political cohesion from one day to the next.

As for the 'gay' thing, I think it's being used in the sense of 'lame' here...
posted by clevershark at 4:40 PM on August 17, 2003

Can anyone think of a good mataphor for a country where a failed businessman can rig & buy the presidential election, half the population lose power for 48 hours because of a power surge, and they stand down their air force jets the day that terrorists hijack and crash four planes into the nations financial centre?

superpower!
posted by quonsar at 4:43 PM on August 17, 2003

Ok, so maybe I'm an idiot, but is there any way to view Realmedia stuff without loading that godawful RealOne player, which I'd prefer not to have bogging down this old machine? any way to have just a plug in?
posted by notsnot at 6:40 PM on August 17, 2003

Notsnot, try http://www.kazaalite.tk/
It appears to be down at the moment but you can download quicktime and realmedia alternative codecs from the site, which will allow you to view them in your browser or using another media player.

Also, yeah. Pretty gay.
posted by Dillonlikescookies at 9:13 PM on August 17, 2003

Rusty, bravo on the reply. On other forums people bait the various 'gay' issues to validate their own reactions, thus my concern re: trolling. These characters are certainly weird if downright cheesy. After a beer it's even funny and I can see your point. Cheers!
posted by moonbird at 9:20 PM on August 17, 2003