The contest was inspired by Dutch comedian Arjen Lubach's show Zondag met Lubach, which broadcast the parody video "The Netherlands welcomes Trump in his own words" on 22 January 2017. In the video, Trump's speeches and actions –mostly from his election campaign– are imitated and mocked by voice actorGreg Shapiro, who gives a short description of the Netherlands using some self-mockery as well, finishing with the request that the Netherlands may come 'second' if America is to be 'first'. A semi-serious undertone is formed by fears that Trump's announced "America First" policy signifies isolationism, including withdrawing U.S. support for NATO: "If you screw NATO, you're gonna make our problems great again." The video went viral, being discussed by multiple international newsmedia and reaching over 73 million views worldwide by 3 February.
Contest launched
On 2 February during Neo Magazin Royale, Böhmermann challenged the Dutch's second place, broadcasting a rival video that claimed 'Germany second' whilst making fun of the Netherlands and Germany itself as well. Then, he encouraged other satirical talkshow producers in all European countries to make similar videos parodying Trump, themselves and challenging the Netherlands' second place behind America. Production teams in at least eleven other countries committed to making their own parody videos, and by 3 February, versions for Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Portugal and Lithuania had been released; these would all be gathered on the website everysecondcounts.eu. Several videos were narrated by voice actor Shaun Streeter.
By 6 February, Italy, Luxembourg, and Morocco had joined the fray. On 8 February, the website of Every Second Counts changed the original layout from a virtual 360° NATO council room with national flags of all European countries plus Morocco and Namibia next to each seat, to a clickable world map divided into the continents of "Europe", "Middle East", "Africa", "Oceania", "North Asia", "South Asia", "North America" and "South America", with "North Asia" and "North America" currently being unavailable.
Common elements
Though widely varying in contents specific to each country's presentation, and the way in which they criticise and/or ridicule President Trump and his ideas and actions, the videos often share common elements. Many revolve around taking pride in or mocking their own country's history, and comparing it to Trump's actions or American historyin general, and how the latter is better, equal or worse.
Ridicule of Trump's appearance: his allegedly "tiny hands" and "orange" skin colour
Criticism of the Trump administration's usage of the terms "fake news" and "alternative facts"
Joking that nobody knows where their country is located, and pointing to a different country if Trump might ever want to strike it with a nuclear attack
This list only includes those parody videos mentioned on everysecondcounts.eu. Several unofficial videos have also been made by individuals or groups not connected to Neo Magazin Royale. These often feature non-European countries or subnational regions within European countries.
