Why Ad Spoofs Make for Great Brand Stocking Fillers

I’m certain that when William Russell Frisbie looked back on his life, he was quite pleased with the progress of his Frisbie Pie Company, not least for the quality of his signature pastry-protecting tins.

Mr. Frisbie’s pastry tins were designed to be a mass producible, dish-like and durable. Something Mr. Frisbie didn’t consider in his tin design, however, was the aerodynamic potential of these pie-protecting pallets. Students from Yale soon discovered an alternative use for the tins: they could slice through the sky once removed of pie. And thus, Frisbees were born. 

Now, this isn’t a call for all businesses to immediately pivot their product to becoming some sort of projectile. The moral of this story is that, no matter how perfectly designed for its intended use, once a product is in the hands of the public, they can  make their own thing of it. 

In the digital age, we can see this pattern repeated in diverse ways, particularly on platforms with engaged and attentive audiences like YouTube. Once something is uploaded and in the public domain, they’ll soon be testing how high a pie can fly. 

More than just the viewing metrics, YouTube can show brands the cultural penetration of adverts in a unique manner. Impactful pieces of content like the highly anticipated Christmas adverts can create a ripple effect of knock-off content - or in other words - when you make a big splash on YouTube, people might make content that parodies yours. The highest form of flattery.

In honour of this I’ve picked out my five favourite YouTube spoofs of famous - and infamous - adverts.

Moz the Monster

As it’s that time of the year, it feels only right to begin with a Christmas ad. Like Santa’s trusty elves, brands spend the year toiling tirelessly, crafting every frame of their upcoming blockbuster Christmas ads in the hope that they can join the growing hall of Christmas advertising fame.  

This year John Lewis' Moz the Monster [above] told the story of a boy who makes an unlikely friend under his bed. Less than 24 hours following its release, The Poke uploaded a short parody considering the perspective of another fuzzy monster, The Gruffalo, as he ruefully ponders why he wasn’t asked to star in the ad.

Old Spice

Old Spice’s Smell Like a Man, Man campaign was a viral sensation, with the original advert racking up over 54 million views on YouTube since its release in 2010.

More people viewed the "response" videos on the first day they ran than watched President Obama’s 2008 election-night acceptance speech, highlighting the ripple effect of viewing that truly impactful and creative content causes.

One such response came from YouTuber Toby Turner who, mimicking the Old Spice mannerisms, ponders what the intentions of 'the man your man could smell like’ really are.

Cadburys' Gorilla

The Cadbury’s Gorilla advert is truly entrenched in the national consciousness. As an ad it was a huge success, helping boost chocolate bar and Phil Collins record sales alike. 

I enjoyed this chaotic reimagining of the ad – considering what putting an actual gorilla behind a drum set in a TV studio would be like.

Lawyers 4 U

The question ‘Have you recently been injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault?’ became synonymous with Injury Lawyers 4 U following a string of adverts a few years back.

Parodied on YouTube by CupOfTeam – the featured lawyer is disheartened following an immediate answer of ‘no’ from the viewer. Resorting to improvisation, the injury lawyer awkwardly struggles to fill the remaining time.

Budweiser Whassup

Budweiser’s Whassup advert from the early 2000’s will go down as one of the most acclaimed and popular campaigns in advertising history. The cultural footprint that this advert left is massive.

12 years after its original release, James Corden revived the famous ad in a YouTube parody, placing himself in the ad in place of ‘Dookie’ – the fourth and least enthusiastic member of the crew.

While these parodies may vary in degrees of humour, what they all demonstrate is the power of YouTube’s ripple effect. Once a brand makes an advert that captures the public’s attention, the cultural penetration of the advert is reflected in what the public do with it – in the case of Budweiser, it’s still springing up fresh parodies over a decade later.

If you make a pie and your audience turn it into a Frisbee, don’t panic, just make sure that Frisbee has your name on it.