The Prince of Canada and his wifenote move to South Park hoping to find seclusion and privacy. Meanwhile, Butters brings Kyle to a new company to help him with his personal brand.
Tropes
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Invoked by Butters who, after listening to CumHammer, thinks that by being insulting towards people he'll come across as "strong and assertive" and people will like him, especially girls. However this gets averted when Butters tries using this tactical logic on Bebe who responds by giving him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
- Alpha Bitch:
- The Princess of Canada is depicted as one. She speaks like a Valley Girl, is an incredibly shallow and obnoxious Attention Whore, bosses her husband around, and goes out of her way to torment others whom she believes has slighted her.
- Subverted with Bebe. She's a popular Girly Girl who’s seen giving Butters a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, but she has an appropriate reason for beating up Butters in that he continuously insulted her even though she never done anything to him prior.
- Amazon Chaser: Butters apparently has an attraction towards Girly Bruiser Bebe to the point where he tries hitting on her. However, he believes that something to the extent of "Do everyone a favor and go fuck yourself" is a great pickup line, resulting in Bebe beating the shit out of him. Though this doesn't deter Butters one bit and he keeps egging her on.
- Ambiguously Brown: When the Princess refers to herself as "ethnic", the Prince is genuinely surprised.
- An Aesop:
- Kyle's speech at the episode's end boils down to this: if you want people to like you, just be yourself. Don't let a brand or a label that companies give you be your only identity because, if you do, you won't be a person anymore. You'll be a product. Worst yet, you'll be looking at a very shallow life, as the princess of Canada has become an empty shell of a person (literally and metaphorically) after so many years of letting CumHammer dictate how she should be.
- Similarly, acting like you are fine when you are not will only make you feel worse; when Kyle tries in this episode to act like he doesn't care about anything, it makes it worse for him.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Ike is portrayed as this here for Kyle. He hogs the whole computer for himself everyday to watch the Canadian Queen's funeral, refuses to share it with Kyle even when it's the latter's turn, and curses at Kyle whenever he tries prying Ike off the computer.
- Attention Whore: The prince of Canada and his wife keep drawing attention to themselves despite swearing that they want to be left alone. Only Kyle is upset by their antics, while everyone else doesn't care about them. When he tries to ignore them like everyone else, it just pisses them off even more.
- Bait-and-Switch: The episode opens with Ike crying as he watches the Queen of Canada's funeral on the computer. Then Kyle comes in the room and reveals the funeral was actually four months ago and Ike is just refusing to move on.
- Beyond Redemption: After seeing how empty his wife has become from being a brand her whole life, the Canadian prince ultimately leaves her at the CumHammer building, ending their relationship right then and there.
- Be Yourself: Kyle's speech at the episode's end boils down to this. He tells everyone how businesses like CumHammer are just turning people into products and that you should want people to like you for being yourself rather than a label that others give you. His speech echoes with almost everyone, including the Canadian prince, and they all leave the CumHammer building.
- Bittersweet Ending: Kyle decides to abandon CumHammer and the concept of branding oneself, convinces almost everyone to do the same, and the other boys decide to personally invite Kyle to hang out with them upon learning that he's been going through a lot of stress lately. However, when the Canadian Prince also decides to quit CumHammer, he is forced to leave his wife when it is made clear that she won't follow suit, having become an Empty Shell as a result of using CumHammer her entire life.
- Boisterous Weakling: Butters attempts to project himself as "strong and assertive" and continues insulting Bebe even after the latter dishes out a brutal No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on him.
- Book Ends: The episode begins and ends with Kyle and Ike fighting for the computer, only this time Kyle lets Ike stay in his seat after finally letting go of his problems.
- Broken Pedestal: CumHammer becomes this to Kyle when he learns that their actions influenced Butters to insult Bebe, resulting in the former being subjected to a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown by the latter. CumHammer becomes this to everyone who used it (except for the Canadian Princess) when Kyle convinces them that the company made them so focused in worrying about their brands, they've stripped them on what made them actual people.
- Brutal Honesty: Stan tells Kyle in no uncertain terms that the antics of "a prince and his stupid wife" don't make for an engaging conversation in the slighest, and that he shouldn't expect results from his friends who have a history of hearing about non-isolated incidents that will ultimately die down when people just start ignoring them. That said, him and the rest of the gang ultimately brook Kyle's feelings in the end and check up on him to make sure he's doing ok.
- Bullying a Dragon: In an effort to appear tough for his brand, the wimpy Butt-Monkey Butters decides to tell tough Girly Bruiser Bebe to go fuck herself. It ends in her giving him a brutal No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
- Butt-Monkey:
- Once again Butters. This time he gets the shit beaten out of him by Bebe while the whole school watches.
- Downplayed regarding Kyle. While he doesn't get beaten up, he's gets harassed by the Canadian couple constantly, while his friends are indifferent to his plight (though they do decide to cheer him up in the end)
- Call-Back:
- The death of the Queen of Canada is once again, "a sad day for Canada, and therefore the world."
- The way Bebe beats up Butters is reminiscent of the way Wendy beat up Cartman in "Breast Cancer Show Ever". For irony points, Butters constantly told Cartman in that episode that everyone would think less of him if they found out a girl had beaten him.
- This is now the second time Kyle is blaming Canadians for making his life difficult. Unlike before however, Kyle's only blaming the two specific Canadians that are indeed causing problems for him instead the whole Canadian race and is trying to control his anger by ignoring them rather than make an angry outburst that leads to massive consequences.
- Character Development:
- Kyle seems to obtain some development where, unlike before he at least attempts to control his temper and he only directs his anger towards the Canadian Prince and Princess instead of their entire country, which hates them as much as he does, and does try to ignore them. He gets some more when he learns to Be Yourself and not to worry about what people may think of him, leading to him to not focus on his brand, letting Ike mourn the queen’s death as long as he wants.
- The Canadian prince becomes a better person after Kyle's speech makes him realize that becoming a brand turned him into a product instead of a person. He leaves CumHammer and later plays his drums for Kyle and the boys as a show of kindness at the episode's end. The only one who doesn't change is his wife, who's too far gone from being a brand her whole life and is literally empty inside.
- Continuity Nod:
- The prince and his wife move into the Cartmans' old house that they had to give up in "City People".
- This is now the second time Kyle has intervened in a fight between a boy and a girl. Bonus points that Heidi, who was the girl involved in the previous fight Butters witnessed, is shown to be a spectator to Butters' fight.
- Scott and Sophie are seen together as they watch Bebe beat up Butters which affirms the friendship established between them in "Basic Cable".
- Disproportionate Retribution:
- When Kyle decides to ignore the Prince and his wife's obnoxious attention-seeking, she treats it as an act of racism before her husband starts rubbing his off-colored genitals on the window in retribution. When that fails to get Kyle's attention, the Prince vows that "he's not gonna get away with this."
- Kyle yells at the Prince for accidentally hurtling a polo ball through his window, nearly hitting him in the process. In response, the Prince tries to hit him with a polo ball on purpose.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: When the school kids see Bebe give Butters a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, only Scott, Heidi, and Kyle show any concern for Butters’ wellbeing while everyone else simply cheers her on, especially because Bebe’s reason for beating up Butters is that he continuously insulted her.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Kyle gets his happy ending after spending the entirety of the episode snubbed by his friends and harassed by the Canadian Prince and Princess, where the boys decide to personally invite Kyle to play basketball with them, while the Prince kindly offers to play drums for Kyle and his friends.
- Eiffel Tower Effect: The Canadian prince and his wife travel to Paris, Agra, Sydney, and New York before setting on South Park. The shots of their jet arriving at the cities feature the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal, the Sydney Opera House, and the Statue of Liberty respectively.
- Empty Shell: What the Canadian prince's wife has become due to being a brand her entire life and not developing a personality of her own. In fact, when the prince literally pries his wife's mouth for a response, there is nothing inside her.
- Even the Dog Is Ashamed: When the Canadian prince and his wife go to Australia, a mob of kangaroos hop away.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Neither the Prince of Canada nor his wife are named. Also, the latter is never referred to as "the Princess of Canada", but specifically as the Prince's wife.
- Everyone Has Standards: Kyle may have bought into CumHammer, but when he sees Butters get beaten up by Bebe for insulting her, he becomes disgusted upon learning that the company influenced Butters to act like a jerk towards her, to the point that he quits CumHammer and convinces the rest of the kids to do the same.
- Exact Words: When the boys are playing basketball, the Canadian Prince asks if he can play. However instead of playing with the boys, he instead plays the drums near them.
- First-World Problems: The Canadian Prince and Princess go on an international tour talking about the stress of being a public figure and lacking any privacy, while openly criticizing the Royal family for drama and badgering people for responding to their attention seeking behavior. Concurrently, the CumHammer marketing group creates brands for public and private citizens and every buzzword list includes "Victim" even if they are obscenely wealthy and winning awards.
- Girly Bruiser: The very feminine Bebe proves herself to be a very brutal combatant as she gives Butters a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
- Gold Digger: The wife of the Canadian Prince has all the hallmarks of one. The Prince is saddened when he realizes she won't stay with him once he decides to abandon his fame and status.
- Hated by All: Everyone in Canada is shown to despise the Prince and Princess, to the point that a soldier farts on them during the Queen’s funeral and the entire audience boos them when they enter the talk show.
- Henpecked Husband: The Canadian prince's wife is shown to be the one calling the shots in their relationship. By the episode's end, the prince seems to have grown a spine and decides to leave her after he realizes she's grown empty (both literally and figuratively) from being a brand since childhood.
- Hypocrite: The prince and his wife, through and through. Wanting to be left alone is understandable, but announcing it in a way that draws attention to yourself to the point that it's nearly impossible to ignore (read: setting off fireworks and blocking the street while yelling at people to leave you alone) is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline while complaining that the fire won't go out. To drive the point home, when Kyle finally manages to ignore them (against all odds), the prince and his wife, who wanted their privacy to begin with, complain about being victimized because they were ignored.
- I Take Offense to That Last One: When the prince is on the talk show at the beginning, the host refers to the prince's wife as his "Instagram-loving bitch wife" and flat-out states that her behavior is not that of a woman who wants her privacy. The prince isn't mad about what you'd think he is.
"How dare you sir! My Instagram-loving bitchwife absolutely DOES want her privacy!"
- Irony: The prince and his wife say they want to be left alone, but they won't let anybody actually leave them alone... as they just keep protesting about wanting to be left alone. Not even the animals are safe from this as shown by them demanding privacy from a mob of kangaroos in the wild during their time in Australia.
- Jerkass: The Canadian Prince and his wife, who claim to value privacy but constantly draw attention to themselves and play the victim card when they're criticized. The former does get better by the episode's end, however.
- Jerkass Realization: After hearing Kyle's speech, the Canadian Prince realizes that focusing on his brand made him an attention seeking hypocrite. Averted with his wife however whose too much of an Empty Shell to have any realization forcing the Prince to leave her.
- Jerkass Ball: Butters, normally an All-Loving Hero, decides to act like a jerk and insult Bebe at CumHammer's suggestion. He pays dearly for it when Bebe decides to give him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. Fortunately, Kyle helps him before he goes in too deep.
- Kangaroos Represent Australia: During their Worldwide Privacy tour, the Canadian prince and his wife arrive at Australia, landing their jet in Sydney. However, they then demand privacy from a mob of kangaroos in the wild.
- Know When to Fold Them: The Canadian prince non-verbally ends his relationship with his wife by leaving her at the CumHammer building, realizing that she's too far gone from the brand life and won't stay with him if he chooses to give up his status and wealth.
- Leave Me Alone!: The prince of Canada and his wife want to be left alone but keep drawing attention to themselves by protesting... about wanting to be left alone. South Park and the rest of the world pay them no mind, but Kyle gets annoyed by how loud and obnoxious the prince and his wife are.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy:
- The Princess of Canada is the masculine girl being confrontal and aggressive whose clearly the dominant pair in the relationship to the Prince of Canada's feminine boy being submissive to his wife doing whatever his wife wants, while showing a kinder and humbler side to him once he leaves her.
- Played for Laughs regarding Bebe and Butters. Bebe is the masculine temperamental Lovable Alpha Bitch to Butters' feminine and sensitive All-Loving Hero boy when the two fight (or more accurately, when Bebe just clobbers Butters exclusively), despite them never having an extended conversation with each other.
- Scott and Sophie are seen together as they watch Bebe and Butters' fight. Sophie could be the masculine girl as she shown to be angry at Butters and cheering Bebe to clobber him, while Scott could be the feminine boy as he shows grave concern as he gets beaten up.
- Mirror Character: The relationship between the Canadian Prince and Princess brings parallels to Cartman and Heidi's relationship:
- The Canadian Princess is one to Cartman. Like Cartman, she is a massive Attention Whore who frequently harasses Kyle and plays the victim card to justify her Jerkass behavior. Also, she’s the dominant one her relationship with the prince who she manages to influence into becoming just as bad as her.
- The Canadian Prince is one to Heidi. Like Heidi, he's an Extreme Doormat to his spouse and becomes a Jerkass like her after continuing the relationship with her and even join her in harassing Kyle. Also, the Prince would get a Jerkass Realization and leave his spouse when she proves to be Beyond Redemption while becoming a nicer person afterwards.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The Canadian Prince and his wife are clearly based on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Similarly, the Queen of Canada is based directly on Elizabeth II.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Bebe beats the snot out of Butters after he tells her to go fuck herself.
- Pet the Dog:
- Scott and Heidi are among the only kids showing grave concern for Butters getting clobbered by Bebe, while everyone else cheers on.
- No one shows Kyle any animosity when he stops Bebe from continuing to beat up Butters despite cheering Bebe on, with even Bebe not taking out her anger on Kyle, a noticeable contrast to the time Kyle was insulted and laughed at when he previously did the same thing. Even Heidi, the girl who insulted Kyle when he intervened with her own fight, took no issue with Kyle stopping this fight, since she wanted the fight to end as soon as possible.
- At the end of the episode, all of the boys visit Kyle to cheer him up... including Cartman.
- Playing the Victim Card: CumHammer has "Victim" as the last item on the list for literally all their brands.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: After Kyle's speech about how it's wrong to turn your whole identity into a brand you create for yourself, he, Butters, dozens of other kids, and the Canadian prince leave the building. Only the prince's wife stays behind because she's dead inside from years of being nothing but a brand.
- Shout-Out:
- The theme to "The Worldwide Privacy Tour" spoofs the title track to Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles.
- The video game Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has been referenced multiple times throughout the episode, being the game that the boys are currently playing. The title of the Prince's autobiography, "Waaagh", is probably a reference to the Orks.
- Shown Their Work: Canada does have its entirely separate system of monarchy from the U.K. like the other Commonwealth realms, all of which are in personal union. This allows the writers a cheeky way of using a No Celebrities Were Harmed version of Harry and Meghan.
- Sitcom Archnemesis: The Canadian Prince and his wife are this to Kyle, with the two always disturbing him with their antics while hypocritically demanding their privacy when he complains about them.
- Skewed Priorities: Butters is more concerned about looking tough for his brand than he is about getting the tar beaten out of him by Bebe.
- Swapped Roles: Heidi and Butters' respective roles in this fight are swapped with those of the previous one, both of which Kyle intervened in. Here, it's Butters that gets into a fight Kyle has to stop while Heidi is among the many kids that are spectating.
- Take That!:
- The main plot mocks Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for being obnoxious attention seekers who demand privacy from the public and try to paint themselves as victims whenever critics call them out for their hypocrisy. Harry's book Spare also gets mocked; its South Park counterpart is named Waaagh (pronounced "whaaah" like a baby crying, not a rallying cry for an Ork horde). When Kyle starts ignoring them, the Prince responds by rubbing his blue-colored genitals over his window, a reference to a passage in Spare where Prince Harry spends a chapter going into detail about his penis suffering frostbite during a trip to the Arctic.
- CumHammer and its business model acts as commentary for the "personal brand" way of thought, making their impressionable young clientele focus on essential positive qualities (including Playing the Victim Card) as a cheap and ineffective method of making themselves more likable. It had turned the Prince and his wife into obnoxious Attention Whores that harass people, with the prince's wife being literally empty inside as a result of having been a client of CumHammer ever since she was a child, turned Butters into a wannabe bad-boy that gets his face kicked in, and nearly alienates the already somewhat socially awkward Kyle from his friends, bringing his rapport with them to a halt.
- Terrible Pick-Up Lines: Butters got his ass kicked by Bebe because he told her to go fuck herself. According to him, he assumed she'd be turned on by his assertiveness. Given how Butters was taking his lumps with no complaint, he probably hoped this would lead to Slap-Slap-Kiss.
- Throw the Dog a Bone:
- After snubbing Kyle whenever he didn't have time to play Warhammer 40,000: Darktide with them, the boys decide to stop playing the game and invite Kyle to play basketball with them to help him relax.
- After the Canadian Prince is abandoned by his wife, the boys allow him to play drums at the park while they play basketball.
- Too Dumb to Live: Butters intentionally goading Girly Bruiser Bebe into fighting him, then continuing to insult her after she had beat him to a bloody pulp was an astoundingly shit-brained idea. Downplayed to an extent, as Butters did it more out of ignorance than genuine stupidity and Bebe has her own girl posse that would have backed her up, but it's likely one of them would have intervened at some point (like Heidi or Wendy), which, if the former's "dumb slut" remark is anything to go by, he was probably aware of.
- Took a Level in Kindness: The Canadian prince becomes a better person thanks to Kyle's speech and leaves CumHammer and the brand life with the rest of the kids. At the episode's end, he plays his drums as an act of kindness for Kyle and the boys after they allow him to.
- Toxic Friend Influence:
- It was implied that the Canadian Prince wasn't a bad person before but after marrying the Canadian Princess, her influence turns him into an obnoxious attention seeking hypocrite like her. Sure enough after the Prince decides to leave the Princess, he becomes a nicer and more considerate person.
- CumHammer's influence turns the All-Loving Hero Butters into a bad-boy wannabe who gets brutally beaten up after insulting Bebe at their suggestion.
- Valley Girl: The Canadian Prince's wife speaks in this kind of accent.
