Parody advertisement

Television

• The American
  introductory commercial", prior to the beginning of the main show. While many of these ads parody actual TV commercials, they are simple comedic parodies
  of the style of the real advertisement rather than its product.
• Likewise, many subsequent sketch comedy programs have utilized parody advertisements, including
  The Idiot Box
  .
• Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! frequently featured surreal advertisements for products and services from an in-universe megacorporation known as Cinco. These commercials often advertised products of an outlandish, unappealing, or otherwise questionable nature, including badly-named toys such as the "B'owl" (a cross between a bat and owl) and "T'ird" (a cross between a bird and turtle), products based on outdated technology (such as the "Cinco-Fone" and "Cinco MIDI Organizer"), products related to urination and defecation, unusual body modifications (such as a "Food Tube", "Bro-oche", and "Eye Tanning System") that require the user's teeth be removed as part of installation, and a children's jukebox that generates hallucinatory "dance tones". Likewise, some sketches consisted of promos for equally-surreal programs on the in-universe television station Channel 5.
• Short Circuitz, an MTV sketch comedy show starring Nick Cannon, often featured parodies of popular advertisements. Its accompanying website, ShortCircuitz.mtv.com
  , allows users to upload their own parody advertisements to compete for a cash prize and a spot on the show.

• In the 1990s, the most famous series of parody advertisements were those for the
  Purina Cat Chow, Pepsi, and Duracell) in both English and Spanish involving the Energizer Bunny
  were made.
• In 1991,
  Eveready Battery Company sued the Adolph Coors Company over an ad for Coors beer it was producing, which showed actor Leslie Nielsen in a full-size rabbit suit pounding a drum, which was parodying Eveready's Energizer Bunny commercials, which themselves are parodies of Duracell advertisements and television program previews. Eveready claimed Coors' ad constituted copyright and trademark infringement. The court ruled that Coors' ad was a valid parody of Eveready's, considering that Mr. Nielsen "is not a toy, and does not run on batteries." Eveready Battery Co. v. Adolph Coors Co., 765 F. Supp. 440
  (N.D. Ill. 1991).
• The
  reality TV shows, by showing a couple getting married, and getting disgruntled at living in a tiny house (the punchline: a voiceover saying "The drama may be real, but it won't save you any money on car insurance", followed by the wife asking her spouse in their tiny hot tub
  "Why haven't you called GEICO?").
• The
  Sprite
  ran a series of ads for other fictional drink products, which had actual or fictional celebrities endorsing the other product, with the implication that the fictional product was inadequate for quenching one's thirst.
• The gimmick of characters from a commercial invading other spoof ads was first used by the
  posse
  and dragging them off their horses and into adverts for a love compilation Album and Washing up powder.
• The 2005 "Poser Mobile Posse" in a print, online and point-of-sale campaign created by Publicis Seattle for T-Mobile's pay-as-you-go cell phone plan was an ethnically diverse group of hip-hop posers with racially stereotyped Latino, Asian, and white characters like "Big Spenda Lopez", "The Fee Jones", "25 cent Chang" who inauthentically appropriate Black culture, and in one video ad arrive in a stereotypical rice burner faux sports car. The group ambush cell phone customers demanding hidden cell phone service charges and fees, but are rebuffed and called "posers" or "clowns". It is somewhat of a parody on Boost Mobile's "Where You At?" advertising campaign which features prominent hip-hop artists such as Ludacris, Kanye West, and The Game.^[7][8][9]

Magazines and print

Mad Magazine

According to Frank Jacobs's biography The Mad World of William M. Gaines, Mad's parodies of real advertisements generated so much attention that Mad publisher William Gaines received requests from the promotional departments of many real products, asking Mad to run parodies of their advertisements. Gaines's standard reply to such requests: "Come up with a really stupid ad campaign, and we'll be happy to make fun of it."

Hustler

The most serious incident involving a fictional advertisement in a magazine caused a lawsuit which reached all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, when

In the parody advertisement in Hustler, the Reverend Jerry Falwell, at the time a prominent promoter of social conservatism and opponent of pornography, is supposedly quoted describing the first time he had sexual intercourse with his mother in an outhouse while intoxicated. Falwell sued Hustler Magazine and its publisher Larry Flynt for invasion of privacy, libel and emotional distress. The jury found for the magazine on the issue of libel (the fictional advertisement clearly indicated it was a parody), but awarded Mr. Falwell $350,000 in damages for the emotional distress and invasion of privacy claims. The Supreme Court ruled that, since the advertisement was so obviously a parody that no reasonable person could have believed it, Falwell was not libelled and thus is not entitled to damages for emotional distress, and he was not entitled to damages for invasion of privacy because he is a well-known public figure. Hustler Magazine, Inc. et al. v. Jerry Falwell, 485 U.S. 46, (1988).

Other examples

• The Adbusters Media Foundation's magazine Adbusters features advertisement parodies that are intended as sharp commentary on the social implications of either the product or the advertising campaign involved (also known as "
  intravenous drip bottle leading into his arm, with the legend "Joe Chemo" on the faux ad, implying that the many years of smoking cigarettes has left "Joe" with cancer and requiring chemotherapy treatment. [1]
• The Wrigley Company created fictional print ads for Juicy Fruit, such as boy bands, an upcoming fictional movie poster, and a phony handheld game system.
• Games Magazine, a monthly publication featuring game- and puzzle-related material, through the 1980s carried a fake ad feature noted (without page number) in each issue's contents with the tagline, "Which of the pitches is full of hitches?" One featured item was an abacus simulator running on PCs made by the nonexistent Nat Soh Software Co. of Hong Kong [2]
  . The challenge to readers was to scrutinize all of the ads to spot the fake.

• Superhero-themed rock band
  Saturday morning cartoons, including engaging in scripted onstage battles with costumed monsters and villains. Normally, when these villains crash the stage, the concert will "cut to commercial" and a video screen behind the band will project a pre-recorded advertisement for an outlandish (and obviously fake) toy or product before returning to the show. In 2012, The Aquabats produced their own television series, The Aquabats! Super Show!
  , which also regularly features such parody commercials.
• An
  track suit, bob haircut and wielding a semi-automatic pistol while defiantly violating face mask guidelines mandated due to the COVID-19 pandemic as a personification of the "Karen" stereotype, provoked criticism from Mattel subsidiary American Girl who took umbrage to the use of their name and trade dress, stating that they were "disgusted" by a post from brand strategist Adam Padilla under the online persona "Adam the Creator", and "are working with the appropriate teams at American Girl to ensure this copyright violation is handled appropriately."^[10] Boing Boing however expressed doubts over the merits of American Girl's proposed legal action against the "Karen" parodies citing the Streisand effect, though it has also noted the debate on whether the satirical intent of the parody advertisement is protected by law.^[11]
• Italy's most listened radio show "Lo Zoo di 105" ran a parody ad featuring a fictional luxury watches' brand Orologi Fumagazzi: two young listeners registered the trademark overnight, launching a real watches' collection with hilarious names and descriptions the very same week.^[12][13]

References