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VIRAL

Genitals video set for Valentine’s relaunch

The English version of a Swedish children’s cartoon featuring dancing genitals that went viral last month, is on track for a Valentine’s Day release, its composer has told The Local.

Genitals video set for Valentine's relaunch
Love is in the air for a viral Swedish genitals video. Photo: SVT

Its composer Johan Holmström revealed to The Local on Thursday that the video, which has clocked up almost five million YouTube hits, is set to get its English re-release in time for one of the most romantic days of the year.

“We don’t know if it will be ready in time, but we hope to release it on Valentine’s Day. We thought it would be fun, because it’s a video about the ‘snopp’ and the ‘snippa’ and love.”

Originally made for the children’s programme Bacillakuten, which is produced by Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT, the song uses child-friendly Swedish words for genitals ‘snippa’ and ‘snopp’ and was designed to teach children about the body and its functions.

It ended up making global headlines after YouTube initially classified it as ‘adult content’.

SVT later persuaded the video giant to agree that the clip was not explicit or aimed at adults and to lift the classification.

The Local revealed earlier this month that an English version was on the cards. But Holmström said on Thursday that the final lyrics were still waiting for the record company’s approval. He said: “I personally don’t think the text is very strange, but they have flagged up that some international audiences are a bit more prudish than the Swedes.”

Some translations that have already been written up in international media include lines such as “here comes the willy at full pace” and “the vagina is cool, you better believe it, even on an old lady, it just sits there so elegantly”.

The English version is set to be made available on YouTube and in audio form via the Swedish music streaming site Spotify.

The video, which has gained international media coverage everywhere from the BBC to Polish online newspapers, hit the headlines again this week when it featured on American talk show Conan.

Host Conan O’Brien showed the clip and pointed out some coincidental similarities between himself and the ‘snopp’ – both sporting a big mane of red hair.

“I was offended because I think that penis looked a lot like me,” he told his audience before asking if the content matter was suitable for American television.

“Are we allowed to show this?” he said.

NORWAY

Norway Uni pulls coronavirus message citing ‘poorly developed’ US health system

One of Norway's leading universities has been forced to change a message warning overseas students of the US's "poorly developed health services", after it was dragged into a storm of criticism on social media.

Norway Uni pulls coronavirus message citing 'poorly developed' US health system
Norwegian University of Science and Technology is one of Norway's leading universities. Photo: NTNU
Over the weekend, the Norwegian Institute of Science and Technology posted a message on its Facebook page for its students on international postings,  advising them to heed the latest advice from Norway's foreign ministry on the coronavirus pandemic, and return back to Norway. 
 
“This applies especially,” the message said, “if you are staying in a country with poorly developed health services and infrastructure and/or collective infrastructure, for example the USA.” 
 
But on Monday, after a storm of social media criticism, the message was changed, stripping out all mention of the US. 
 
Anne Dahl, communications advisor for the university's rector, told state broadcaster NRK that the university had decided to change the post because the furore was distracting people from the serious underlying message. 
 
“We do not want the expression of a single phrase to overshadow important information, so the specific wording about the US was removed,” she wrote in an email. 
 
The original wording was quickly picked up by Twitter commentators in the US. 
 

It then got viral news coverage, with both conservative outlets like Fox News, and left-of-centre newspapers like the UK's Independent picking up the story. 
 
Several people flocked to the original post to attack the university in the comments. 
 
 
 
 
The post was then changed on Monday to remove all reference to the US. 
 
 
 
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