Kari Grandi is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

, the main protagonist in the Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 television advertisement

Television advertisement

A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...

s for Grandi, a brand of ready-to-drink juice

Juice

Juice is the liquid that is naturally contained in fruit or vegetable tissue.Juice is prepared by mechanically squeezing or macerating fruit or vegetable flesh without the application of heat or solvents. For example, orange juice is the liquid extract of the fruit of the orange tree...

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Grandi was played by Eeki Mantere

Eeki Mantere

Erik Kristian ”Eeki” Mantere was a Finnish musician that became famous in the 1970s as Viktor Kalborrek, soloist of the band Hullujussi. After Hullujussi disbanded in 1976, Mantere continued to perform as Viktor Kalborrek until the new millennium, albeit mainly in restaurants, department stores...

 from the beginning of the character in the 1970s until 1999. He was then replaced by actor Sami Kojonen.

The advertisements are parodies

Parody

A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

 of typical 1920s-era adventure movies

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 where a group of villain

Villain

A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...

s kidnap a woman and torture her by withholding water and other drinks from her. Somewhere at a distance, Kari Grandi hears her cries for help and rushes to her aid. First he drinks a carton of Grandi juice, then he drops the empty carton on the ground and steps on it. The ensuing sonic boom

Sonic boom

A sonic boom is the sound associated with the shock waves created by an object traveling through the air faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding much like an explosion...

 knocks out the villains, and Kari Grandi is able to revive the woman by giving her a carton of Grandi juice.

The narration of the advertisements always ends with an established catchphrase:

Hän on kaikkien janoisten sankari, aikamme legenda: Kari... Grandi!

In English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

:

He is the hero of all who are thirsty, the legend of our time: Kari... Grandi!

The character's name is an obvious homage to the actor Cary Grant

Cary Grant

Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...

. The character Kari Grandi was himself parodied in the Finnish sci-fi movie

Science fiction film

Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...

 Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning

Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning

Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning is a 2005 motion picture produced by five friends in a two-room flat with a small budget and the support of a few hundred fans and dozens of acquaintances. Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning is the seventh production in the Star Wreck movie series, the first of professional...

, in the form of Babel 13 security officer Mihail Karigrandi (English name: Mikhail Garybrandy), who is a parody of the Babylon 5

Babylon 5

Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...

character Michael Garibaldi

Michael Garibaldi

Michael Garibaldi is a lead fictional character in the universe of the science fiction television series Babylon 5, played by Jerry Doyle.-Overview:...

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