About

Short Message is an obscure video animation of a strange man singing to a small, skinny person sitting on a toilet, about soup, while pulling over-the-top facial expressions and movements. He then pulls out a sword and transforms the man's head into that of his own.

Origin

The original video was uploaded on March 17, 2008, by YouTube user "wagzqix".^[1] It uses the audio from a 1991 Belgian TV advertisement for Royco Cup-a-Soup. The audio contains an 80's style song about the product.

The original Flemish lyrics are as follows:

"Mmmmmh…
Geniet er van, zo een mooi moment,
met Royco Cup-a-Soup.
Je hebt het verdient dat je jezelf verwent,
met Royco Cup-a-Soup!
Oooh! De lekkerste soep,
soep in een kop!
Dat is Royco Cup-a-Soup!
Een kan er maar de lekkerste zijn."

The English translation reading as:

"Mmmmmh…
Enjoy it, such a great moment,
with Royco Cup-a-Soup.
You deserve it to treat yourself,
with Royco Cup-a-Soup!
Oooh! The most delicious soup,
soup in a cup!
That is Royco, Cup-a-Soup!
Only one can taste the best."

Spread

The original footage from the advertisement had been removed from YouTube, but since the popularity of the parody video soared, it was reuploaded. The unusual movements and strange facial expressions made the video popular with the YouTube community, particularly in fads, and as YouTube Poop sources. Various Garry's Mod videos can also be found.

Among forum communities such as Facepunch, the facial expression shown in the video were commonly used as avatars and Reaction Faces. The Royco Cup-a-Soup guy also has his own Facebook page.^[4] The webcomic team GG-Guys also held a contest on their website on January 30, 2010, to fill in the blank speech bubbles of a comic version of Short Message.^[2] The winners were announced a week later on February 5, 2010.^[3]

Fanart

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References