YouTube spoofs: Ready to take the hit?

By Ariel Clark

This guy doesn’t need an introduction.



Thanks in part to being incredibly clever, beautifully directed and timed, the Old Spice guy and his first commercial, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” has gotten worldwide recognition. It also had plenty of airplay, including a whopping 16 million views on YouTube. And while I am sure you are all familiar with this character, I’d like to introduce you to these two guys.





Personally, I think @ohdoctah was funnier, but the Old Spice kid was so low-tech and earnest that you can’t help but like it. I mean, he made it to Ellen!

I wonder what the effect of the parody is on market share. It can only help, right? The two parody ads got 200,000 views and 500,000 views on YouTube, respectively, along with countless blog mentions and tweets adding to the conversation.

This article in AdAge calls @ohdoctah a “boon” to the company, and while it details the recent market trends in body products, doesn’t discuss whether the parody ultimately hurt or helped the campaign. In its entirety, the latest Old Spice campaign-- which includes the aforementioned television spot, additional commercials, as well as the social media experiment run by Old Spice featuring the Old Spice Guy -- made the Old Spice the number one, most-watched channel on YouTube and increased its site
traffic by 300%.

But what if your idea is turned into something ridiculous? Or worse, is used to deliver a scathing attack on your ad’s approach?

Behold, the Honda “The Cog” ad and the spoof it spawned.





Will these two lanky sportsmen help sell Hondas? Probably not, but I got a kick out of it.

Now observe when a parody is used to deliver a smackdown.

Original:

Spoof #1:

Spoof #2:

Spoof #3:


Ouch.

As part of an agency, it’s my job to deliver engaging, informative and (hopefully) entertaining messages for our clients to broadcast. If these ideas get some recognition and are subsequently spoofed, how can it be tracked, if at all.

Does a happy audience equal happy shareholders? Whatever the analytics for Old Spice say, imitation is certainly one of the greatest forms of flattery. However, if your message hits a nerve with the wrong audience, it could also be hard to look at yourself through their eyes, and their subsequent YouTube response.