Captain Euro

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Captain Euro is a fictional comic book-style superhero character, created in 1999 as a way to promote the European Union, and specifically the Euro, the single European currency that arrived in 2002.[1] The character has been featured on a website, captaineuro.com, since 1999, but has not appeared in any actual comic books. The website's contents are available only in English.[1]

The campaign, website and all the characters were created by Nicolas De Santis of the consulting firm Twelve Stars (now Gold Mercury International) for the EU.[1] Twelve Stars was already working for the EU in various projects, including with the European Parliament.

The Captain Euro character dresses in a costume which features elements of the flag of Europe, including the twelve stars motif. Elements of the character are clearly reminiscent of Marvel Comics' Captain America (the similar "Captain" moniker and patriotic costume) and Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Captain Scarlet (which also features a team of international adventurers operating from a central base).

Fictional character biography

Captain Euro (real name Adam Andros) is the son of "a famous European Ambassador", a professor of palaeontology and a polyglot. After a motor accident one of his knees was replaced with a metal alloy joint, but he is otherwise "in peak physical condition".

He runs the Twelve Stars Organisation, a group which seeks to "defend the security of Europe and uphold the values of the Union".

His team-mates include his sidekick Europa (real name Donna Eden), an environmentalist and archaeologist, and assistants Erik, Helen, Marcus, Lupo the dog and the computer system Pythagoras I.

The website claims that "they are the new ambassadors of global peace bearing the European message with them wherever they go." They also apparently represent Europe at sporting events, "competing in a number of championships and triumphing in the name of Europe."

The major foe of the organisation is Dr. D. Vider (full name: David Viderius), a "ruthless speculator" and "former financier" who hopes to divide the European Union so that he can more easily conquer it.

Reception

Robert Frank, in a 1998 article in The Wall Street Journal that appeared on the cover of the newspaper's global edition, wrote "Captain Euro is the ultimate youth-marketer. He was born out of the bureaucracy of Brussels: Mr. De Santis spent more than a year studying the European "identity" for the European Parliament only to determine "there is none." So, he proposed creating a "European character" or mascot. Parliament debated the issue for months but couldn't make a decision. Eventually, Mr. De Santis gave up and decided to create it himself."[2]

Dan Glaister of The Guardian mocked the character upon its release in 1999, writing that Captain Euro has "the sort of history only a marketing company besieged by focus groups could devise." Quoting from the character's description that "participation in an experimental language programme enabled Adam to become a polyglot", Glaister dryly remarked, "Ah - so that's how to become a good European."[1]

Eurosceptic politician and commentator Daniel Hannan, writing in 2011, criticised the Captain Euro literature as possibly "sinister". He described the Dr. D. Vider character as having "a hooked nose and a goatee beard, like some anti-Semitic caricature from the Völkischer Beobachter", and stated that D. Vider's real first name, David, and his occupation in finance could also be considered indicators that the villain is meant to be Jewish. Hannan also criticised the general concept of using comic-book characters to promote the EU, writing, "The notion that the government should get at parents through their children is a characteristic of authoritarian states, not liberal democracies."[3]

András Simonyi and Amanda Norris, in a 2013 column in the Huffington Post, shared the opinion that Dr. D. Vider had "a clear anti-Semitic undertone", and added that his team of henchmen, "social misfits belonging to the 'Global Touring Circus,'" were themselves an offensive stereotype against the Romani of Europe. They also criticized Captain Euro's "meek and boring" nature (he does not use weapons), calling it emblematic of the European Union's reliance on "soft power" and its failure to solve its economic problems during the intervening years.[4]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Die, Europhobe scum, Dan Glaister, The Guardian, 6 April 1999
  2. ↑ Captain Euro Will Teach Children About the Euro, but Foes Abound, The Wall Street Journal online, 14 December 1998
  3. ↑ EU child propaganda: silly or sinister?, Daniel Hannan, The Daily Telegraph blog, 3 June 2011
  4. ↑ A Superhero's Soft Power Falls Flat, Huffington Post online, 25 March 2013

External links

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