Rik Mayal as Hitler in anti-euro advert

Rik Mayal, “§Rick” of teevee’s The Young Ones, appears as Adolf Hitler in an anti-euro (the money, not the continent) ad.

Link.

Well, I guess he needs the work, eh? :slight_smile: Still, you’d have to be a little desparate to put your image in jeopardy - unless, of course, most Britons favor rejection of the euro. Sounds like a bad career move to me…

[young ones]

Rik: What are you going to name your baby, Vyvian?
Vyv: Shut up or piss off!
Rik: <backing away> Oh, well, fine, if that’s how you’re going to be about it …
Vyv: No, no no… Shut Up if it’s a boy, Piss Off if it’s a girl.

[/young ones]

[TYO Rick]

Fa-SCIST!

[/TYO Rick]

Is it any different from Gregory Peck playing Mengel in The Boys From Brazil?

Rik certainly doesn’t need the money - he’s hugely famous for a number of roles other than The Young Ones in the UK. Notably in a show called Bottom (in which, incidentally, his flatmate is called Eddie Hitler).

It’s just typical Rik Mayal comedy I think.

That’s the way I took it. I think it’s hilarious! (But I can see how some people may be offended.)

Well, one assumes it reflects his personal view (on the Euro, obviously) so I hope it is different from Peck. I very much doubt whether he, or anyone else, would do this for the money.

Other than that, I can’t comment until I’ve seen the ad which, I also assume, he had some input on.

Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Euro?

And this is supposed to be non-offensive? Can’t wait to hear what herr Schroeder thinks about it. I bet he won’t be so amused.

Damn right. No matter what your stance on the Euro is, if you have to resort to Nazi analogies, you’ve lost the debate. Period.

BTW, the accompanying photo in the linked Yahoo article has nothing to do with the Euro. It’s an actual extreme right idiot during a neo-nazi protest march in the Netherlands. Note the flags in the background.

Yup, we have them too. Although they’re not really a threat if they all look like Hitler.

They do.

I haven’t seen the ad. Since Rik Mayall has a long career of being pretty politically correct, I doubt this is as tasteless or crass as it seems. It’s probably far more tongue-in-cheek than we think.

The pro-euro camp in the UK is relying on apathy and ignorance to lull voters into assuming that euro “membership” (as if it were a club) is inevitable. The anti-euro camp has a tough job - how do you alert people to the dangers of losing monetary (and probably fiscal) independence, when 95% of them don’t have a clue what those things are?

My personal hunch is that the economic damage that would result from forcing inappropriate interest rates onto the UK will convince the powers that be to find an excuse to put off a referendum. On the other hand, Blair is fanatical about gaining “influence” (for himself, that is) among utopian Belgians and other continentals setting up a federal country people don’t want.

Ads that show ordinary people it’s cool to be against scrapping the pound might tilt the balance. It takes pop stars and other personalities to do that - economists can’t do it.

I’ve seen the rick Mayal bit and it is very offensive. Mayal, Harry Enfield, Bob Geldhof, and I think Gordon Ramsey all have bits in this ad which is to be shown in cinemas. The others are not offensive (or particularly funny)

The Hitler bit is so obviously offensive that I think it is a troll to try to get the ad banned and hence even more publicity for the anti €uro cause.

Re the Euro, I personally think it’s a brilliant idea and the sooner Britian cops on to itself and joins, the better

It does appear a profoundly stupid commercial. Although there are serious arguments against the Euro, time and time again its opponents (particularly those in their 50s and older) seem to return to the subject of World War Two and european domination by the Nazis.

The debate over the Euro has always been polarized between those who claim accepting it means surrendering to the Nazis/Germans (the difference intentionally fudged), and those who support the Euro on the basis that its enemies appear to be xenophobes and racists (although of course most are not). I can’t see most people, particularly the young, siding with the Mayall advertisement.

As an aside, it’s interesting how many of the figures from the alternative comedy explosion have gone on to do things like this which they would most likely have utterly opposed: make lots of adverts, work with Andrew Lloyd-Webber, etc. The use of racial or ethnic stereotypes in the advert appears to be something Mayall would once have been totally against.

Also, what’s Bob Geldof, who as far as I know is still an Irish citizen, doing in the advert?

ummm… are we all talking about the same Rik Mayall here?