Paranoël Activity

I'm pretty damn pleased with our agency Christmas card this year. Written and Directed by Acart Copywriter/Videographer Christopher Redmond, it takes a different perspective on that supernatural old guy who breaks into your house once a year while you and your children are asleep:



Thanks to DOP Karl Roeder for helping out.

And some of you may recognize the scary little boy. He has certainly kept me up on many a night.

"Bro Cruelty" parodies Sarah McLachlan's sappy animal welfare PSA

BuzzFeed posted this pretty good parody of Sarah McLachlan's animal welfare PSA by Socially Awkward:



The original:

Rick Perry's "Strong" ad just keeps giving and giving...

This one combines the "Brokeback Jacket" meme with the "Bad Lip Reading" one:



And in case you live in a rolled-up newspaper at the bottom of a lake, here's the original:



It's the most hated video on YouTube, apparently. So there's that, too.

Ugly boots: There's a vaccine for that!

Not really, but "Uggcitrine" is a pretty good parody of clichés in big pharma marketing for birth control and STI drugs.



Via Illegal Advertising

1 in 5 teenagers will experiment with art

An illustrator friend, Marc A., shared this on Facebook:

Hosted by the Philbrook Museum of Art

Considering how much dope gets smoked in art schools, though, the comparison may be a little too close for comfort.

"Occupy Best Buy" on Black Friday? #OWS

Isn't that, like, the opposite of resisting capitalism?

This parody site, which says it is not affiliated with Best Buy, says its goal is "to get the best deals on Black Friday". There's even a manifesto:

Let's hope this is a joke, because whatever you think of Occupy Wall Street, you have to give them credit for their autonomy: "It is not a business, a political party, an advertising campaign or a brand.  It is not for sale."

And it's definitely not down with camping out for the best deals on cheap-foreign-labour-built, disposable, landfill-filling personal electronics.

Tip via Buzzfeed

F'd Ad Fridays: Google+ gets its first mock brand page

It's a pretty funny one, too.

The tagline: "We took your bailout money and your mortgage rates are going up"

Check it out while it's still there. Thanks to +Adland for sharing.

Herman Cain ad parodied to sell e-smokes

Herman Cain's campaign manager, Mark Block, recently became an overnight internet celebrity for his bizarre delivery and cigarette flourish on a bizarre political ad.

There have been quite a few parodies since, but at least one advertiser has decided to try to make a marketing campaign out of it.



Smoke Stiks are "electronic cigarettes". They simulate the actions and (optional) nicotine fix of smoking (including creating the appearance of smoke). But they don't produce tar and all that other nasty stuff.



They do apparently, however, produce that freaky Cain smile...


Via Agency Spy

F'd Ad Fridays: Steven Meisel spoofs fashion ad clichés

Steven Meisel, who you might know as "the guy who took those sleazy nudes of Madonna that weren't the furry Penthouse ones" has had some fun lampooning the pretentious and tawdry world of fashion ads for a series in W.

Featuring Linda Evangelista...

...Carmen Carrera...

...Karen Elson (and a buch of bums)...

...Anna Dello Russo and W's Style Editor at Large, Lori Goldstein...

...him...

...Karen Elson (again), Guinevere van Seenus, and Coco Rocha...

... Toddler in Tiara Eden Wood...

...heiress Petra Ecclestone...

...and a heavily Photoshopped Joan Rivers.

Via Adrants and The Telegraph and W (where you can see enlargements and read full credits).

Fun fact: I once did a freelance assignment for W's Milan bureau on weird Christmas traditions in southern Europe. They paid me for it, but it never saw print. The fools! It was gold!

F'd Ad Fridays: Gatorade for Hangovers

Nice little parody (Flash only) by Jest, found on Buzzfeed.



Personally, I prefer Pedialyte.

F'd Ad Fridays: Is "Facebook Official" a joke or what?

Everything about this video screams "parody".

The opening.

The hair.

The androgyny. (And the hair.)

The cheesy moves. (And the hair!)

The token diversity. (And my God! The hair!!!)

The dance moves.

The product placements.

And the Rebecca Black league dancing.

When Adland's Dabitch first shared it, I assumed it was a joke. Then I hoped it was one. Then I prayed.

Then I read this article on Perez Hilton:

Is this a joke? This has to be joke.

TELL US THAT THIS IS JOKE!

It's been a long time since the world has had a talented, relevant, five-piece boy band thrusted into their face, and perhaps with good reason. There's some much to live up to - NKOTB, BSB, NSYNC - how could any newbie group every dream of competing. Maybe with a little help from a former boy band member…

Lance Bass would like to introduce you to his new boy band, Heart2Heart. Their first single, Facebook Official, hit the web this week, and it's getting a lot of attention … because people are trying to figure it out!

What is this? Is it a parody? An homage to 2Gether, perhaps? Or has Lance fallen into RB-Rebbecca Black territory? You know, like, he's completely serious with this - the video, the costumes, the horrifying lyrics - and people will jump on board only because the enjoy the sheer ridiculousness of it!

Nobody can tell if ex-'N Syncer Bass is serious or not. Everyone from Queerty to Business Insider is speculating. And that's kind of brilliant.

See more at the band web site 

F'd Ad Fridays: A Public Service Announcement about deadly assassins

This bit of fun is from Greenstorm Film.



Hey, didn't that bald guy used to be in Smashing Pumpkins?

Via Buzzfeed

F'd Ad Fridays: Real ad spoofs parodies

With so many commercial spoofs going viral, is it any surprise that real advertisers are wrapping their ads in faux parody?

Here's a prime example:



Blade Buddy is a real product, apparently direct marketed. And this is just an attempt to break out of infomercial hell? Will it work? Your call.


Via Buzzfeed

F'd Ad Fridays: The Tug Toner

Jimmy Kimmel takes "jerkout" fitness technology to its logical conclusion:



Hilarious.

Lisbon gay film festival reveals the closeted characters in your favourite movies

Marc put this Queer Lisboa campaign on Osocio, but I wanted to share it here too. Some of them are pretty funny (if only for the accents).







This last one I thought was already acknowledged as a "gay movie". But anyway...

Not your average road safety PSA

Although it starts out that way. Watch to the end.



Via Buzzfeed