Douche and Turd

"Douche and Turd" is the eighth episode of the eighth season of the animated
television series South Park, and the 119th episode overall. Written by series co-
"Douche and Turd"
creator Trey Parker, it first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October South Park episode
27, 2004, just before the2004 presidential election. Episode no. Season 8
Episode 8
In the episode, PETA protested against the use of a cow as South Park Elementary's
mascot. The student body holds an election to determine a new mascot. As the Directed by Trey Parker
election approaches, Kyle tries to convince everyone that his candidate, a giant Written by Trey Parker
douche, is better than Cartman's nominee, a turd sandwich. Meanwhile, Stan ends up Production code 808
getting exiled from South Park after refusing to vote.
Original air date October 27,
2004

Contents
Plot
Reception and release
Politics
See also
References
External links

Plot
During a pep rally at South Park Elementary, a group of local PETA eco-terrorists protest the use of a cow as the school's mascot. The
school agrees to pick a new mascot, and the students are told to vote for said new mascot. Embarrassed by the bland choices, the kids
decide to fill in a joke candidate but disagree as to whether it should be a "giant douche" or a "turd sandwich". Kyle rallies his friends
to fill in the giant douche, and Cartman gathers support for the turd sandwich. The result is that the two joke candidates get the most
votes and the students must choose between the two in an election.

Stan does not see the point in voting between a giant douche and a turd sandwich as they are exactly the same in his opinion, and
declares that he will not vote at all, much to everyone's dismay. Stan is equally dismayed, wondering why anyone would care about
such a pointless exercise. He talks about it with his parents at dinner, but his parents are not impressed with his apathy and even get
into a fight over who should win when Stan explains who the two competitors are. This results in Kyle calling on Sean "Puff Daddy"
Combs, who intimidates Stan with a literal Vote or Die campaign. Meanwhile, the campaign continues, with the turd sandwich
supporters rallying against the giant douche supporters, usingbribes and fear mongering to gain support.

By the time of the election, Stan agrees to vote after being chased by Combs and his associates through the streets with guns.
However, he realizes Kyle only wanted him to vote in order for giant douche to win when he votes turd sandwich and Kyle demands
that he change his vote. Disgusted with this electoral process, Stan once again refuses to vote. The school administration decides that
Stan must be banished from the town for all eternity or until he decides that voting is important. He is spat on by the townspeople and
his shirt is ripped off piece by piece before being placed on a horse, bound with a bucket over his head, and send him off into the
woods with Butters's dad blowing a horn to signal the horse to escort Stan.
Stan's horse randomly takes him to a PETA compound where he finds that PETA's members live with animals, practicing zoophilia
and even interbreeding with them. Stan explains his banishment to the PETA, who tells him that an election "is always between a
douche and a turd", because they are the only people who suck up enough to make it that far in politics. Combs shows up at the camp
to kill Stan, but is distracted by a PETA member who throws a bucket of red paint on his fur coat. Combs and his posse retaliate by
gunning down all the PETA members. The animals flee as they anticipate the fate of the PETA members, and Stan manages to
escape, only to suffer a minor injury on his arm.

Returning to South Park, Stan is finally convinced to vote and chooses turd sandwich. Despite his vote, the giant douche still wins the
vote 1410 to 36. Stan initially points out that his vote did not matter, but his parents inform their son that all votes matter even if it is
for the losing side. Suddenly, Mr. Garrison runs in with the news that the PETA members have been discovered murdered. As a
result, the cow is reinstated as South Park Elementary School's mascot. Randy tells Stan that now his vote did not matter, leaving a
dismayed expression on Stan as he went through so much for nothing.

Reception and release

[1]
Slate described the episode as being "the epitome of everything great about the show".

"Douche and Turd", along with the thirteen other episodes from South Park's eighth season, was released on a three-disc DVD set in
the United States on August 29, 2006. The sets includes brief audio commentaries by series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone
for each episode.[2]

Politics
According to Nick Gillespie of Reason magazine, this episode "pretty much sums up how most libertarians approach politics".[3]
Douche and Turd are used again in the season 20 episode "Member Berries" and subsequent episodes of the season, in which they
refer to Donald Trump (represented by Mr. Garrison) and Hillary Clinton, respectively, in the 2016 presidential election.[4]

The episode has been used to demonstrate the near-zero value of an individual vote, the intrinsic value individuals place on the act of
voting itself, problems arising when voters must choose amongst undesirable candidates rather than issues, and the role of political
campaigning.[5][6]

See also
Trapper Keeper, a South Park episode about the2000 U.S. Presidential election.
About Last Night..., a South Park episode about the2008 U.S. Presidential election.
Obama Wins!, a South Park episode about the2012 U.S. Presidential election.
Oh, Jeez, a South Park episode about the2016 U.S. Presidential election.

References
1. "Gateway Episodes: South Park"(http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/07/09/south_park_best_episode_ever_
is_douche_and_turd_video.html). Slate. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
2. Schorn, Peter (August 26, 2006)."South Park: The Complete Eighth Season DVD Review"(http://www.ign.com/articl
es/2006/08/29/south-park-the-complete-eighth-season)
. IGN. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
3. Harkinson, Josh. The Apostles of Ron Paul(http://motherjones.com/politics/2007/12/apostles-ron-paul?page=2)
,
Mother Jones (January/February 2008)
4. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Get a South Park Makeover—as a Giant Douche and a T urd Sandwich (http://ww
w.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/09/south-park-season-20-premiere)VanityFair.Com, September 15, 2016
5. Hoffer, Adam J. and Crowley, George R., Did You Say that Voting is Ridiculous?: Using South Park to T
each Public
Choice (June 26, 2013). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2285834or
https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2285834
 6. South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today (http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/book.asp?r
ef=9781405161602&site=1)Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20070901034507/http://www .blackwellpublishing.
com/book.asp?ref=9781405161602&site=1)2007-09-01 at the Wayback Machine, Blackwell Publishing,Series: The
Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series, Retrieved 2008-01-21.

External links
Douche and Turd Full episode at South Park Studios
Douche and Turd Episode guide at South Park Studios
"Douche and Turd" on IMDb
"Douche and Turd" at TV.com

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