Smurfs Bombed

rayd · Post by **rayd** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 7:14 am

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4334086.stm

Not so sure this is a bad or good thing. Never being a fan of those blue things i got a perverse pleasure from the ad.

In_Gabriel_We_Trust · Post by **In_Gabriel_We_Trust** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 7:59 am

I haven't seen it on TV here, but I'll sure keep an eye for it out now.

Reading the script of the clip, it seems to be more violent than any anime out there.

monkeyboy · Post by **monkeyboy** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:21 am

LOL yes I've seen the advert on CNN. That's what I alluded to in this Beta thread:
http://www.anime-beta.com/phpBB/viewtop ... 2&start=15

<--- Pops Papa smurf the big one!

ReiTheJelly · Post by **ReiTheJelly** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 3:16 pm

I personally think it's really sick. Having grown up with the smurfs, this ad makes me very unhappy and *not* at all inclined to give their organization a donation.

blueheaven · Post by **blueheaven** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 3:39 pm

Cloud · Post by **Cloud** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 3:39 pm

I'll think about that.

klet · Post by **klet** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 7:43 pm

ReiTheJelly wrote:I personally think it's really sick. Having grown up with the smurfs, this ad makes me very unhappy and *not* at all inclined to give their organization a donation.

Yeah, it's kinda unsettling. I grew up with the Smurfs too, so I guess that's why it bothers me.

Lynxa · Post by **Lynxa** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 7:50 pm

I think it's SUPPOSED to bother you. And really, if you're that unsettled by it happening to cartoon smurfs imagine how horrible the real life bombings of innocent, unarmed villagers is. And it happens every day!

I think it's freaking brilliant.

Baakay · Post by **Baakay** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 8:51 pm

Lynxa wrote:I think it's SUPPOSED to bother you. And really, if you're that unsettled by it happening to cartoon smurfs imagine how horrible the real life bombings of innocent, unarmed villagers is. And it happens every day!

I think it's freaking brilliant.

Yep. Sick, but brilliant.

And you're 100% right. It's supposed to be shocking, upsetting, unsettling and it works just exactly because the cute little Smurfs and war are about as far apart as you can get.

And now that I'm done being serious, MAN am I glad I grew up with Roadrunner, Huckleberry Hound and mindless crap like George of the Jungle, and not Smurfs. I don't think I could have handled it for long.

Post by **JWR** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:16 pm

Baakay wrote:
And now that I'm done being serious, MAN am I glad I grew up with Roadrunner, Huckleberry Hound and mindless crap like George of the Jungle, and not Smurfs. I don't think I could have handled it for long.

Sure Kay

More like...
Crusader Rabbit , Felix the Cat , Beanie & Cecil, Rocky & Bullwinkle , Fractured fairytales , Peabody & his boy Sherman , Hercules Hare & his Guided Muscle , Kimba the white Lion ect.... Just like me :hitting:

Of course 90% of those reading this have no idea what I'm talking about

sailorsv13 · Post by **sailorsv13** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:34 pm

It was disturbing for sure. I grew up watching ALL of the 80s tunes, smurfs being one of the favs like most my age.

While I understand their reasons for using this cartoon to get the message across...it seems that they would be able to come up with something more intelligent. This cartoon causes me to feel that the organization is trying to push their idea across on an emotional, rather than intellectual level. Showing their ignorance, the organization does not come across to me as one I would be interested in donating to. I would not trust this fund to handle my money and to properly support those former child soldiers (i.e. putting them through school or finding them jobs rather than "feeding" and "clothing" them). Rather than showing interest in the future of these people, I would think that emotionally bullying representatives such as these would spend this money on things that would not be condusive to the future security of those in need.

In using the destruction of innocent childhood cartoon characters, this organization seeks to bother people into donating because they should feel guilty...for what though? How many people who loved the Smurfs when they were little (or adults) do you think were actually responsible for these children in Africa? This sort of guilty persuasion they are using may work on some people, but if they want me to donate, this is simply not the way.

~ Bri ~

blueheaven · Post by **blueheaven** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 11:16 pm

I can't be the only one that finds that ad INCREDIBLY funny! Oh man, maybe I need therapy.

Lynxa · Post by **Lynxa** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 11:54 pm

sailorsv13 wrote:
In using the destruction of innocent childhood cartoon characters, this organization seeks to bother people into donating because they should feel guilty...for what though? How many people who loved the Smurfs when they were little (or adults) do you think were actually responsible for these children in Africa? This sort of guilty persuasion they are using may work on some people, but if they want me to donate, this is simply not the way.

~ Bri ~

A few points:

1. The Smurfs or "Schtroumpfs" were created in Belgium in the late 60's/early 70's and was a very popular, long-running comic book long before it ever found its way to America. Which is why this is a Belgian commercial and, most likely, targeted at a slightly older audience than it would be here in America.

2. To be honest I think this kind of shock is needed to jolt people out of a sense of complacency and comfortable entitlement. None of us have any more right to plentiful food, a comfortable bed, and a solid roof over my head than anyone born anywhere else in the world. For the most part it is an accident of birth that we have what we do. And I also believe that no child should ever have to grow up with a gun in their hands, or kill someone before the age of 14, or die of Aids before the age of 20. Should we feel guilty? You bet. We might not have personally contributed to the situation, but by not doing anything we're allowing it to continue. So I suppose it depends on your definition of "actually responsible".

3. This isn't some weird fly-by-night brand new fund, it's Unicef! They've been around for decades and do very good work. (We still keep a little coin box on the Library shelf every Halloween

)

/rant

((And yes, Blueheaven, I'd pay good money to see Smurfette blown up

))

sailorsv13 · Post by **sailorsv13** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 12:28 am

I feel that it should not make you feel guilty, but invoke your sympathy through a commercial showing that there actually ARE children who have gone through this and need help (otherwise how do I know their story?). Seeing smurfs getting blown up is funny, but does not inspire me to donate...maybe it works for Belgians. I don't know. Hearing about the experience of a child in such conditions is plenty to would jolt me (and anyone else who would care as well) out of complacency, and into knowledge of the situation. I myself am only vaguely familiar with these injustices toward children in Africa. Thus it would give me a reason to show compassion for those who are suffering, which I agree is no fault of their own and those as comfortable as I should most certainly feel compelled to help. I have a problem with the message of the commercial, not the message to help of course ^.^

~ Bri ~

In_Gabriel_We_Trust · Post by **In_Gabriel_We_Trust** » Fri Oct 21, 2005 2:42 am

sailorsv13 wrote: but does not inspire me to donate...maybe it works for Belgians.

So far, I haven't noticed much reaction on the clip.
As mentionned before, I too think it is meant to make you feel very unconformtable, which appears to be a new tendency with charity in Belgium.
Just this week, there was a big issue about how a campagne about speech impediments cross-referenced with Nazism and the Taliban-regime.

I think the approach to charities swings like a pendulum. At this point, it's about shocking people into donating. In a while, it will be about smooching and hugging you into donating.