Unflagged is Super Mario

There are no places the famous plumber has not explored. Dressed up like Mario, driving the same kart, Rémi Gaillard is launching bananas and turtle cuddly toys into cars, reproducing the same codes and principles as in the game but in the real life. The French humourist who is well-known for his wild videos brought Mario out of his fictional world. His first video in December 2008 was watch on You Tube more than 35 million times. He made another one in February 2011: Mario Kart is back. Mario appears a second time in flesh and bone, flinging once more bananas and entering the fruit area of a shopping center to provide himself with more projectiles.

This parody emphasizes the simplicity of the game which is mostly made with simple actions and basic sounds "boing boing." With his daring videos posted on the internet Rémi Gaillard keeps on surprising people and he is now really famous. Besides his interesting production around a well-known hero, the humourist's work and audience show how internet can help people to become popular. His jokes are mostly visual and musical so the French language is not a barrier to his mediatisation all over the world. Then Super Mario is an international reference: the buzz is inevitable.

That's not all. Super Mario gives other examples of how he is associated to the real world. Have you ever heard about mariobama ? It is a strange character who looks like Obama (when you do know it is supposed to be him) but who is dressed up like Mario. So what Mario and Obama have in common? During the presidential campaign in 2008 Obama made a famous speech which ended with "Fired up, ready to go", a sentence our fictional hero also used to say to cheer the player on. At once some internet users noticed it and used it in order to create analogies between the two figures and they made this new character. Then, during the campaign, Mariobama's t-shirts and badges were available on e-shopping intended for Obama's supporters.

Obama is also one of the guest in a reajusted game of Super Mario available online. Thereby, Consumers are adapting and changing the original content of the fictional world. People feel free to create their own stories from a pre-existing world. In other words, consumers are no longer at the receiving end of the media system (Jay Rosen). Political message or humour, we will remember our favourite fictional heros are no longer safe in their intimate world.