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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"Any outdoorsman will tell you the most frustrating part of hunting is when a deer simply FALLS DOWN when shot, and doesn't [[Blown Across the Room|FLY BACKWARD]] into the forest. Those days are over. Anything hit by this baby better PACK A LUNCH, 'cause it is going for a ride!"''
|''[[Team Fortress 2]]'', advertising the Scout's new weapon.}}
This [[Comedy
When done as part of a [[Sketch Comedy]] show, the product can be pretty much anything. When done as part of a more typical comedy, the mock product usually ties into the plot of the show in some fashion. In both cases, the commercial itself is a practical field guide to various [[Advertising Tropes]], although this tends to be more pronounced in the case of a [[Sketch Comedy]].
Compare/contrast with [[Show Within a Show]], [[Commercial Switcheroo]] and [[Trailer Spoof]]. [[Real Trailer, Fake Movie]] is a subtrope.
For more parodic content, see what [[The Other Wiki]] has to say about [
▲For more parodic content, see what [[The Other Wiki]] has to say about [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parody_commercial parody commercials].
{{examples}}
== [[Advertising]] ==
* [[
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* The ''[[
* ''[[Magikano]]'' and ''[[Seto no Hanayome]]'' (both directed by Seiji Kishi) parodies commercials reminiscent to the way it's done in [[Western Animation]] to get a joke across. Goes something like this: Have a problem? Then, have we the product just for you! See [[Before and After Pictures|"Before" and "After"]]; [[This Product Will Change Your Life]] so well that you've just gotta have it! [[But Wait! There's More!]]: If you call now, you'll get a uselss [[Free Prize At the Bottom]]! And all of this for only 9980 yen! So, what are you waiting for? [[Operators Are Standing By]]! Call now! To order, please dial [[Ridiculously Long Number]] [[
== [[Comedy]] ==▼
* Brazilian comedy group Casseta & Planeta are famous for this. First, they were parody of real commercials. When they started their TV show, they instead created fictional products sold by the "monopolist megaconglomerate" [[Acme Products|Organizações Tabajara]]. At a certain point, a rival company, Grupo Capivara, appeared. Since it was the same thing as the original, they were sold to a working-class man, "Seu Creysson" (parodying the fact that a Brazilian airline was sold by $1) and started selling products focused on poor people, such as a "palmtop" which consisted of writing on the person's hand. ▼
* [[Tim Wilson]]'s ''Hillbilly Homeboy'' album ends with a fake commercial advertising an album called "Love Songs for Losers".▼
== [[Film]] ==
*
* ''[[CSA: Confederate States of America]]'', a parody film depicting what it would be like if the South had won [[American Civil War|the war]], had commercial breaks throughout the mock documentary that showed commercials that would have appealed to that country at the time, involving slavery more often than not. About half of them feature products with racist names and/or mascots that [[Aluminum Christmas Trees|really existed]]... in the North... ''after'' the Civil War.
* The three films of the ''[[
* And don't forget this twisted variation: [[Batman (
* At one point, ''[[The Sixth Sense]]'' cuts to a fake cough syrup ad. The main character throws a shoe at the television to turn it off.
* ''[[Stay Tuned]]'', about a couple [[Trapped in TV Land]], naturally features several of these, such as one for the non-alcoholic children's drink "Yogi Beer" and "MaxHell" cassette tapes in a direct parody of Maxell's "Blown Away Guy" campaign.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysYsFqwSJ7k&feature=related This infomercial] for [[Steampunk]] rayguns from Weta Workshops.
* At one point in ''[[Freaked]]'', a [[Show Within a Show]] breaks for an ad for Macheesmo, a canned cheese product that's marketed in [[Testosterone Poisoning|an aggressively macho]] manner.
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Both ''[[Mad TV]]'' and ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' have employed this concept for years, advertising bogus products in order to make fun of various [[Advertising Tropes]] or make fun of a current event (such as the cold opening on the Jonah Hill episode from season 33 where disgraced governor Eliot Spitzer [Bill Hader] advertises a new law firm that deals with sexual court cases, such as injuries from faulty vibrators, U.S. customs seizing German porn, and slip and falls in gay bath houses). For SNL, "[[Happy Fun Ball]]" is probably the best-known; ''[[Mad TV]]'', meanwhile, featured a plush toy called "Tickle Me Emo", an angsty, stereotypically emo version of Elmo from Sesame Street ("You don't understand what I'm going through!"). Other sketch shows, like ''Fridays'', ''[[In Living Color]]'', ''WB's Hype'', and ''[[SCTV]]'' have done fake commercials, though it can be safe to say ''SNL'' and ''[[Mad TV]]'' have the most memorable parodies.
** "Hi, I'm Sam Waterson... [https://web.archive.org/web/20120127010105/http://www.hulu.com/watch/2340/saturday-night-live-old-glory Robots are everywhere...]"
** Somethin's always cookin at the [https://web.archive.org/web/20100303172341/http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/clips/cluckin-chicken/229063
** [[The Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]] sketches were presented with a listing of fictional sponsors ("Brought to you by Dog Assassin. When you can't bear to put him to sleep, maybe it's time to call Dog Assassin!")
** Inverted by the rare spoof commercial to spawn a ''real'' product. A 1990 SNL spot pitched the "Chia Head," a sort of Chia Pet treatment to replace lost hair. Five years later, Joseph Enterprises, the novelty's maker, began selling ''actual'' Chia Heads modeled after various cartoon characters... and later a version in "tribute" to [[Barack Obama]].
*** When Gillette razors invented the dual blade razors, SNL spoofed them with their ad for triple bladed razors, ''because you'll buy anything!'' Twenty years later, real razors now offer ''[[Up to Eleven|five bladed models]].''
** "Get a Nike(y) Turkey, and PUMP IT!"
** The TBS show ''Tush'', which was modeled loosely on ''SNL'', routinely did a parody commercial or three per show.
* The episode of ''[[Roseanne]]'' that parodies [[The Fifties|fifties]] sitcoms also features parodies of fifties ''commercials''.
* ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' had memorable parody commercials for such products as Whizzo Butter (now with 10% more less, and completely indistinguishable from a dead crab) and American Defense [[Commercial Switcheroo|or]] Crelm Toothpaste (with the miracle ingredient Fraudulin!).
* Jasper Carrott's BBC show ''Canned Carrott'' had a fake
* ''[[
** Buy new low suds Mold...or we send the boys 'round.
** Harvest Moon, the scent that lingers. Buy some, or we'll break your fingers.
** A housewife is cleaning up a dirty floor, when a lady comes in with "Fairy Puff" detergent. The lady instantly starts to smear detergent all over, making a far bigger mess than there was before. Frustrated, the housewife takes out a gun from the window, and shoots her. "[[Commercial Switcheroo|If someone interrupts you when you're cleaning the house, use our guns!]]"
** A shot of a car and a voice-over saying "We put a gallon of economy petrol in this car. Let's see how far it goes." The camera followed the car driving around for a little bit, before it reached a banner saying 'TWENTY MILES'. The car was just about to drive through...and then crashed into the banner. "[[Commercial Switcheroo|For strong paper, buy from us!]]"
* That last one was a parody of an actual petrol advert from the time, which showed a car breaking through paper banners every ten miles. ''[[Morecambe and Wise]]'' also spoofed this ad: in their version the car was shown
* ''[[The Weird Al Show]]'' did this in just about every episode, with ads like "Sport Shoe - you don't deserve to wear them", "Silly Choice Dinners" that had rubber bands as a side item, and an ad for a pizza company that never puts their pizzas in a box to save time.
* [[Stan Freberg
* ''[[Bill Nye the Science Guy]]'' has one every now and then. Pass the plankton, please!
* Subverted in the early ads for Energizer batteries. It would start out looking like a normal commercial, until about halfway through when the absurdity got a bit too much (such as "Chateau Marmoset" wine, or the award-winning film "Dance With Your Feet") ... and then get interrupted by the Energizer bunny, pounding on his little drum, he keeps going and going and going and going and ...
* The sitcom ''[[Better Off Ted]]'': Each episode included a fake commercial for the fictitious Veridian Dynamics company, the workplace setting for the show.
* The ''
{{quote|
* ''[[
* ''[[The Gruen Transfer]]'''s segment "The Pitch", in which two advertising agencies compete to "sell the unsellable", making commercials for things such as whale meat and holidays to Baghdad.
** Sometimes subverted, however, in that while ''most'' agencies approach The Pitch with a parody ad, not all do; some are actually [[Dumbass Has a Point|pretty damn convincing]]. Twice now, a political party has approached the ABC to buy an ad originally aired on the pitch. (The Australian Democrats and The Greens.) Both times the ABC said no. In another example, an advert promoting mandatory euthanasia was so convincing that an actual Australian right-to-die organisation approached the agency to do a real ad on the issue; the next week, the panel discussed it and almost unanimously agreed that the 'parody' ad was more convincing than the real one.
* ''[[Funky Squad]]'' would have genuine ads from [[The Seventies]] mixed with the 'stars' promoting various fake products with a [[Values Dissonance]] twist, such as hair spray "with added hydro fluro carbons".
* ''[[The Amanda Show]]'' had at least one an episode.
* Done ''beautifully'' in the [[Trapped in TV Land]] episode from ''[[Supernatural]]''. The typical cut to commercial occurs, and then opens up into a commercial for genital herpes. Starring Sam Winchester. [[Butt Monkey|The poor guy.]]
* One of [[The
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBfi8OEz0rA House Hippo!!]
* ''Newstopia'' always included a fake commercial in the middle of the real commercial break, as well as a fake preview of an upcoming show such as ''Inspektor Herring'' just before the second half.
* The ''[[Babylon
* ''[[
* ''[[That Mitchell and Webb Look]]'', like many sketch shows, have done a couples of these. Notably cressps;
{{quote|
'''Mitchell:''' That doesn't ''make any sense''! }}
* ''[[KYTV]]'', being a spoof on commercial satellite TV, featured a handful of parody commercials in every episode, as did its predecessor, ''Radio Active.''
* ''[[The Rick Mercer Report]]'' always has one or two an episode, often riffing on current political or business situations.
* The first episode of ''[[Six Feet Under]]'' included some parody adverts for mortuary products.
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** ... which is why longtime editor Bill Gaines wouldn't carry ads.
* ''GAMES'' magazine used to run a fake ad in every issue. It was listed in the table of contents with the tagline, "Which of the pitches is full of hitches?"
* ''Computer Games Magazine'' frequently runs ads for [https://web.archive.org/web/20131206190955/http://www.phobe.com/sfi/sigmain.html fictional game studio Schadenfreude Interactive]. Because, honestly, who can resist [[Survival Horror]] karaoke, [[Steel Battalion|Mecha-assisted]] fishing, and racing against elder gods?
* The pornographic magazine ''Hustler'' would carry parody ads, usually to express Larry Flynt's opinions and beliefs.
== [[Music]] ==
* "Divers Ayres On Sundrie Notions" by [[PDQ Bach]], a series of 18th-century style singing commercials.
* The music video for [[Foo Fighters]]' song "Big Me" gives us "Footos: the Fresh Fighter" as a parody of Menthos ads.
* [[Modern Man]]'s song "Side Effects" starts out with a parody commercial for "Triadose", a treatment for "Hyper-umbilical Fibrosis" (too much belly button lint).
== [[Radio]] ==
* ''[[A Prairie Home Companion]]'' does these regularly, for a range of products including Bee-Bop-A-Ree-Bop Rhubarb Pie and Powdermilk Biscuits.
** Though in this case it's Garrison Keillor's [[George Lucas Throwback]] to the old radio variety shows that had prominent sponsorships. To wit: the show's house band is even named after a
== [[
▲* Brazilian comedy group Casseta & Planeta are famous for this. First, they were
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sZuN0xXWLc Big Bill Hell's] (warning, link contains swears), a parody car commercial made at a Baltimore TV station in 1990, circulated on VHS tapes for years until [[YouTube]] gave it a new lease on life.▼
▲* [[Tim Wilson]]'s ''Hillbilly Homeboy'' album ends with a fake commercial advertising an album called "Love Songs for Losers".
* Given that they originated in radio, it's not surprising that [[The Firesign Theatre]]'s albums are frequently structured like broadcast media, with interruptions for mock commercials. Most notable in this regard is ''Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers'', which comes across as mostly eavesdropping on someone watching TV in a twisted alternate version of Earth. The story, such as it is, is punctuated by commercials for products like [[Captain Ersatz|Ersatz Brothers Coffee]] and [[Yellow Snow|Bear Whiz Beer]], and political ads for candidates whose ideology is... difficult to understand.
== [[Theatre]] ==
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* The ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' series after the third game is rife with these spoof commercials. An example: an advertisement in ''[[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]'' from "Cluckin' Bell", a fictional Kentucky Fried Chicken look-alike, which stresses how unhygienic and gross these places are ("Cock-a-doodle-doo, this tastes like shit!"), as well as the inhumane manner in which the chickens are treated. The third game, meanwhile, features an advertisement about "Aeris Running Shoes", an obvious Nike look-alike, which stresses the alleged worker abuse in their factories in southern Asia (A young boy: "It's good! We get to play with knives! My friend sewed his hands together! Yesterday, I made a dollar!").
** ''[[GTA 2]]'' also has parody ads on the radio: "You might be surprised to learn than 93% of investments are ethical, eco-friendly, and wide open to market collapse. A crash can strike without warning, wiping clean a lifetime of work and saving to destroy your future, and the future of your family. The people at Third World Bank have different ideas, capturing the earning potential of underdeveloped countries and spreading your money across a wide range of tobacco, defense, and pharmaceutical investments. Third World, keeping your money safe no matter the cost."
** The ''[[Saints Row]]'' series [[Follow the Leader|also]] featured parody radio commercials, including those for
* The trivia computer game ''[[You Don't Know Jack]]'' played parody commercials at the end of each game. These were so popular that one of the games in the series even included an audio CD of some of the more memorable parodies.
* ''Streets of [[
* ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines|Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines]]'' had radio commercials for, among other things, a restaurant called Frickin' Chicken ("That's some f***ing good chicken!") and a sitcom about a banker whose late wife comes back as an ATM. These were also advertised in billboards around town.
* Relatively obscure ''[[
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[
* ''[[
** Note that the advertised product ''[[Never Needs Sharpening|has]]'' [[Exact Words|perfection]] in every cup. In that [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070620 a good gulp] makes people, indeed, clearly perceive perfection. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070625 With all senses. In everything.] For hours non-stop.
* [http://www.egscomics.com/backgrounds.page Wallpaper collection] of ''[[
* ''[[Cyanide
** Then there's this [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EMqd5Nznv0 video], which has two commercials, the first of which is a parody. {{spoiler|(A safety feature thwarts her attempt at [[Car Fu]] which gets her killed.)}}
* ''[[
* ''[[mezzacotta]]'' has a set of fake ads. Such as: "Visit Finländ. [[Understatement|Sömetimes is snöws]].", "[[Tetris|Tet]][[risk]]: [[X Meets Y|the board game of]] strategic [[A Worldwide Punomenon|block]] conquest", etc.
* ''[[Devil Bear]]'' presents: [http://www.thedevilbear.com/comics.php?p=523 Tupperscare!]
== [[Web Original]] ==
* This is also a common device on the ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' toons.
** [
** The Strong Bad Email [http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail149.html candy product] ends with a commercial for the candy bar SBlounchked!, sending up Mentos-style [[Bottled Cool]] pitches.
* A ''real'' commercial example: PayAttention.org puts out political ads with stereotypical images of waving flags, eagles, happy families, or whatever - only to reveal that the candidate being promoted is, say, a bag of leaves.
* In the [[Whateley Universe]] story "Tales of the MCO", the characters are sitting around watching said television show and [[
*
* Ursula Vernon got a section in her gallery for this stuff. Behold "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130707114959/http://www.redwombatstudio.com/wpg2?g2_itemId=233 Red Wombat Tea Co.]".
* The '''Powerthirst''' series of commercials, now [[Defictionalized]].
* The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4EEn6KmFUc Lucky Candy commercial] [[Easter Egg]] at the end of [[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le3XKdVM24k TechnicalVirgin.com]'' was a [[No Budget]] parody of the teaching of "sexual abstinence" as a substitute for proper sex education in schools, in which [[Dawson Casting|then 28-year-old]] [[wikipedia:Melanie Martinez (actress)|Melanie Martinez]] appeared as a [[Catholic School Girls Rule|school girl]] delivering [https://observer.com/2006/08/even-mister-rogers-had-a-past-2/ advice] like “One thing I’m not planning on is getting pregnant. That’s why I choose anal sex. I mean, sure it hurts a little, and I wind up walking funny for a day or two. But I think my future’s worth it.” The original was [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/05/arts/television/05pbs.html taken offline] in 2004, when "[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2273573/ Melanie]" auditioned as host of ''The Good Night Show'' (2005) on [[PBS Kids|PBS Kids Sprout]].
** PBS Kids Sprout sacked Melanie Martinez in 2006, causing a huge viewer backlash against the main [[PBS]] network. Her career never fully recovered.
* With the advent of AI-based text- and video-generation tools in early 2023 came the inevitable mock commercials created using them. Some of the first and best known, as of this writing:
** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSewd6Iaj6I Pepperoni Hug Spot] - Like family, but with more cheese!
** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlY-iNrqFDo Synthetic Summer Beer(?) Commercial]
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[
** During the first Mr. Hankey Christmas Episode, a parody commercial appeared offering a Mr. Hankey toy which consisted of various Mr. Potato Head-like plug-ins that the kids could use to "dress up" a home-made Mr. Hankey. Of course, you get a home-made Mr. Hankey by fishing it out of the toilet.
** The episode "Cherokee Hair Tampons", which featured a couple of <s>Native American</s> Mexican hucksters hawking [[All-Natural Snake Oil|"natural health products",]] had a commercial advertising "natural tampons" made from "real Cherokee hair".
Line 137 ⟶ 145:
** The episode "Chinpokomon" featured two mock advertisements. The first was the "Wild Wacky Action Bike", a bicycle with both front and rear handlebars, advertised as "almost impossible to steer". The second product was the "Alabama Man", an action figure of a stereotypical redneck who spends his time drinking beer, bowling, chewing tobacco, and beating his wife ("When Wife asks him where he's been, just use the action button and Alabama Man busts her lip open!" 'Shut up, bitch!'"). After a focus group consisting of Cartman, Stan and Kyle dismiss both as "gay", the researcher says, "Oooh, dear. Well, let's keep trying. How about this?" Cut to real commercials.
** The episode "Free Hat", which was a [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|criticism of movie remakes]], featured an advertisement in the middle for a remake of the very first ''South Park'' episode, with "new and exciting digital effects".
* ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show
** And fits on your back.
** It's Log, Log, Log!
* ''[[
** Walrus Juice: [[
** Thompson's Teeth: The only teeth strong enough... to eat '''other teeth''' with!
** CASH, CASH, CASH FOR YOUR BONES! NOT ENOUGH CASH? TOO MANY BONES? CALL CASH BONE! RIBS, SKULLS, SPINES, EVEN CERTAIN TINY EAR BONES! THE LEG BONE'S CONNECTED TO THE CASH BONE!
** [[Word of God|According to the]] [[DVD Commentary|DVD commentaries]], these are usually put in when an episode runs a few seconds short. However, Torgo's Executive Power was a major running gag throughout ''Bender's Big Score'', unlike the other one-shot commercials.
* The sadly short-lived ''[[
** "Do you have paper towel absorbent enough to pick up this acid?" "No" Well neither do I, but I do have this extra mint chewing gum"
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Teen Titans (
▲* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sZuN0xXWLc Big Bill Hell's] (warning, link contains swears), a parody car commercial made at a Baltimore TV station in 1990, circulated on VHS tapes for years until [[YouTube]] gave it a new lease on life.
* "At [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfSPcYqbE7s Way North Foods] you'll always find [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0poJ8AZxrPc the highest prices] on the things you need most – [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nunavut-food-prices-fake-ad-1.3394396 we guarantee it]!"
** The parody (written by Chris Lihou of Calgary ad agency WAX Partnership, based on pricing reported by Iqaluit's Feeding My Family advocacy group, shot at Family Foods in Calgary with pro-bono actors, production by Joe Media, audio music and voiceover Six Degrees, and largely assembled in the same way as regular ads for regional supermarket chains) flips the usual script where an actor plays a grocer, walking through each aisle and shouting about lower prices for individual items... by boasting that the store is raising prices "way north". (Cost of transporting food to Canada's high Arctic, even with federal Nutrition North subsidies, is typically more than the items were originally worth.) All done completely dead-pan, with the high prices as a selling point, so that the final result looks like a polished, real commercial.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Advertising Tropes]]
[[Category:Parody Tropes]]
[[Category:
|