It's Friday. You've all switched off already, so here's some content soft as a bowl of congee. In the first of a semi-regular feature (meaning whenever we can rope someone in), Loud creative director Joe Van Trump gives his pick for the best ever parody ads.
Chanel No. 5
Filmmaker Joe Wright boasted that there was no advertising agency involved in the production of this ad. Pity, because without that all-important idea filter we were forced to listen to Brad Pitt wax lofty, esoteric claptrap that was inspired by the French surrealist poet Paul Éluard. Even after figuring out what the ad was all about I still have no idea what the ad is all about. But it did inspire a brilliant, wonderfully written parody ad, so well done, Chanel.
Shamwow
The real commercial is almost a parody of itself. It's over-the-top, retail sell-o-vision – and although total garbage, it's taken on a viral life of its own thanks to its infectiously annoying pitchman. The parody ad has some great little bits, however, and it gave this sham product some comedy wow factor.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, it's the cause – and solution to – all of America's obesity problems. When you watch these two commercials one thing is painfully clear: the parody commercial is much more real than the real commercial. I'm not sure who the good people at Coca-Cola are trying to fool with their do-gooder messaging, but it's a thinly veiled promise that would probably insult most consumers.
MasterCard
MasterCard has done so many 'Priceless' commercials that they created an official MasterCard YouTube channel to house all of them. It's a great campaign with infinite legs, and therefore, even more parodies have been made. This one seems to have the most hits on YouTube. It's pretty priceless.
Mentos
Sometimes advertising is so bad that no matter how hard you try you just can't seem to forget it. Take Mentos, for example. Their 1990s 'Freshmaker' campaign depicted seemingly hapless young people solving problems in a completely ridiculous manner. Unbelievably, it helped raise sales from $20 million to $40 million in three years. The Foo Fighters were the first to parody these commercials in their music video 'Big Me' poking fun at the campaign's overwhelmingly cheerful optimism.
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