Europolitan Vodafone (found TV advertisements for CU prepaid SIM card; 2002)
The logotype of Europolitan Vodafone.
Status: Found
Date found: 24 Oct 2008 ("Gurkrull")
1 Apr 2024 ("Fiskcirkus")
Found by: Pontus B., mixtis carminibus
Europolitan was a Swedish telecommunication company, founded in 1991.[1] On 22 May 2001 the prepaid SIM card CU (pronounced as "see you") was released and the target audience was young people aged 15 to 25.[2] In 2002 Europolitan was acquired by the British telecommunication company Vodafone and the new name for Europolitan became Europolitan Vodafone.[3]
By the spring break in 2002, at least two different advertisements were shown on TV in Sweden related to CU. Both advertisements were similar in structure, with a surreal situation taking place in a public place and ending with a passer-by stating that while the advertisement was a bit odd the campaign seemed satisfactory.
The first advertisement was called “Gurkrull” (roughly translated to “cucumber roll”). In this advertisement a man dressed as a mime is seen putting a cucumber in the mouth of another man, who is lying on the ground. This advertisement was found on 24 October 2008 and is available on YouTube in low-resolution quality, where it was uploaded on 8 April 2020.[4]
The second advertisement was called “Fiskcirkus” (roughly translated to “fish circus”). In this advertisement, a man dressed in a gold jacket is standing on Sergels Torg in Stockholm, Sweden. He has two marionettes of real fish, on which he has attached doll legs. He requests people to come closer and tells them that they do not have to be afraid. An elderly woman comments that the fish looks nice. This advertisement was lost for many years, until it was uploaded in a compilation of other advertisements that aired on 10 February 2002 on the Swedish TV channel TV3. This video was uploaded by YouTube user mixtis carminibus on 11 May 2023[5] but it was not until 1 April 2024 that YouTube user Pontus B. located the advertisement and uploaded it in a separate video.[6]
References
- ↑ Nilsson, Sophia (8 July 2017): Han såg Europolitan växa upp – nu lämnar Tre-chefen över till en ny generation (in Swedish), Computersweden.idg.se. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ↑ Europolitan Holding (22 May 2001): Europolitan Vodafone storsatsar på ungdomsinriktat koncept (in Swedish), News.cision.com. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ↑ Danielson, Per (22 October 2003): Europolitans dagar räknade (in Swedish), Computersweden.idg.se. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ↑ B., Pontus (8 April 2020): Europolitan Vodafone-reklam - "Gurkrull" (2002) (in Swedish), Youtube.com. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
- ↑ carminibus, mixtis (11 May 2023): TV3 Reklam 2002-02-10 (in Swedish), Youtube.com. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
- ↑ B., Pontus (1 April 2024): Europolitan Vodafone-reklam - "Fiskcirkus" (2002) (in Swedish), Youtube.com. Retrieved 2 April 2024.