Drea Knufken
Sometimes, a parody of an ad is more successful than the ad itself. Some parodies, like those of the Apple Mac vs PC ads, outperform the originals by more than 10 million online hits*. We’ve listed some of the best such parodies below:
10. Motrin’s Baby Sling Ad
The original is a tongue-in-cheek, narrated short on baby slings. The mom concludes that she’ll “put up with the pain, because it’s a good kind of pain” from a kid–and Motrin will help her with that.
The parody uses the same format and similar narration to point out that “big, gigantic fake boobs make moms cry less.” Once again, the narrator puts up with the pain because it’s a good kind of pain.
9. Olive Garden
The commercial: This is one of a series of commercials Olive Garden put out to make the point that it’s a family kind of place.
The parody features dysfunctional food (boxed wine, fingers mortodello) and a dysfunctional family.
8. World of Warcraft
The commercial: A director tries to tell a defiant Mr. T that there aren’t any night elves with mohawks, but T won’t listen.
The parody is about Night Elf Pimp Ari Rosenberg, who pimps…well, you get the point.
7. Mac vs. PC
The original: Two guys in a room represent a Mac and a PC in this famous series of commercials. The PC is invariably a dumpy, clueless loser, while the Mac is younger, smarter and better.
This parody points out a Mac’s limitations by fast-forwarding what the Mac says.
Another parody makes the point that both Apples and PCs just plain suck.
6. Dove Evolution
The original makes it clear how much makeup and Photoshop goes into making a model look beautiful.
The parody explores how to turn a guy into a massive slob.
4. Dove’s Onslaught
The original is a critique of the beauty industry’s effect on women. It’s serious and effective.
In the parody, Greenpeace uses the same format to critique Dove’s use of environmentally-destructive palm oil in its products.
3. Windows 7
The original films people saying they want less clutter, a simpler interface on Windows 7. Everybody claims it was their idea.
The parody puts a broader spin on the “Windows 7 was my idea” meme.
2. Macbook Air
The original is a simple depiction of a person pulling a MacBook Air out of a manila envelope and opening it up.
The parody by Dell shows someone pulling a CPU, monitor, keyboard, mouse, and cords out of a manila “SuperEnvelope”.
1. Snuggie
The original Snuggie infomercial, featuring the benefits of a blanket with sleeves, is already pretty ridiculous.
The parody uses the same footage, with different narration, to talk about what a tool you will look like when you wear the “WTF blanket”.
*source for this and most of the parodies on this list: Dan Hill’s book About Face.
