Fearing that overexposure to images of tragedy has desensitized people, UNICEF is running a gutsy ad in Belgium in which the Smurfs (eighties pop kitsch here but as eternally beloved as Mickey Mouse and Snoopy in Belgium) are bombed leaving a trail of dead blue bodies among the smoking remains of the Smurf village. Designed to call attention to the plight of the child soldiers of Burundi, the clip (viewable here) ends with the message "Don't let war affect the lives of children."
The message, however, was lost of U.S. President George W. Bush, who, unable to speak French or Flemish, saw the clip out of context and has called upon the UN to form a coalition against Gargamel and his number one agent Azreal to relinquish their weapons of mass destruction.
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