Parody advertisement
Encyclopedia
A parody advertisement is a fictional advertisement for a non-existent product, either done within another advertisement for an actual product, or done simply as parody
of advertisements—used either as a way of ridiculing or drawing negative attention towards a real advertisement or such an advertisement's subject, or as a comedic device
, such as in a comedy skit or sketch
.
or Norway
for example) it is illegal to make disparaging comments about a competitor's product in an advertisement, even if the statements are proven to be true.)
A parody advertisement can be one in which the advertisement appears to actually be a real ad for the false product, but then the advertisement is somehow exposed to be a parody and if it is an actual advertisement the actual brand becomes clear. If it is simply a parody it may or may not indicate that it is one.
According to Frank Jacobs
's biography The Mad World of William M. Gaines, Mad's parodies of real advertisements generated so much attention that Mad publisher William Gaines
received requests from the promotional departments of many real products, asking Mad to run parodies of their advertisements. Gaines's standard reply to such requests: "Come up with a really stupid ad campaign, and we'll be happy to make fun of it."
In the parody advertisement in Hustler, the Reverend Jerry Falwell
is supposedly quoted describing the first time he had sexual intercourse with his mother in an outhouse while intoxicated. Falwell sued Hustler Magazine and its publisher Larry Flynt
for invasion of privacy, libel and emotional distress. The jury found for the magazine on the issue of libel (the fictional advertisement clearly indicated it was a parody), but awarded Mr. Falwell $350,000 in damages for the emotional distress and invasion of privacy claims. The Supreme Court ruled that, since the advertisement was so obviously a parody that no reasonable person could have believed it, Falwell was not libelled and thus is not entitled to damages for emotional distress, and he was not entitled to damages for invasion of privacy because he is a well-known public figure. Hustler Magazine, Inc. et al. v. Jerry Falwell
, 485 U.S. 46, (1988)
.
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of advertisements—used either as a way of ridiculing or drawing negative attention towards a real advertisement or such an advertisement's subject, or as a comedic device
Comedic device
A comedic device is used in comedy to write humor in a common structure. They can become so common that they are difficult for writers to use without being perceived as cheesy.-Double entendre:...
, such as in a comedy skit or sketch
Sketch
Sketch may refer to:Drawing and other visual arts* Sketch , a drawing or other composition that is not intended as a finished work, but a preliminary exploration.* SketchUp, a 3D modeling program.* iSketch, an online drawing game....
.
Overview
A parody advertisement should not be confused with a fictional brand name used in a program to avoid giving free advertising to an actual product, or to the use of a fictional brand name in an actual advertisement used for comparison, which is sometimes done as opposed to comparing the product to an actual competitor (in some countries, (GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
or Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
for example) it is illegal to make disparaging comments about a competitor's product in an advertisement, even if the statements are proven to be true.)
A parody advertisement can be one in which the advertisement appears to actually be a real ad for the false product, but then the advertisement is somehow exposed to be a parody and if it is an actual advertisement the actual brand becomes clear. If it is simply a parody it may or may not indicate that it is one.
Film
- Tropic ThunderTropic ThunderTropic Thunder is a 2008 American action satire comedy film written, produced, and directed by Ben Stiller, and starring Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., and Jack Black. The main plot revolves around a group of prima donna actors who are making a Vietnam War film...
: In addition to Tropic ThunderTropic ThunderTropic Thunder is a 2008 American action satire comedy film written, produced, and directed by Ben Stiller, and starring Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., and Jack Black. The main plot revolves around a group of prima donna actors who are making a Vietnam War film...
s (in)famous fake movie trailers, the film has a parody ad for the fake products 'Booty Sweat' energy drinkEnergy drinkEnergy drinks are beverages whose producers advertise that they "boost energy." These advertisements usually do not emphasize energy derived from the sugar and caffeine they contain but rather increased energy release due to a variety of stimulants and vitamins....
and 'Bust-A-Nut' candy barCandy barA chocolate bar is a confection in bar form comprising some or all of the following components: cocoa solids, cocoa butter, sugar, milk. The relative presence or absence of these components form the subclasses of dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate. In addition to these main...
. As part of the film's marketing 'Booty Sweat' has been made into a real life energy drink. - BamboozledBamboozledBamboozled is a 2000 satirical film written and directed by Spike Lee about a modern televised minstrel show featuring black actors donning blackface makeup and the violent fall-out from the show's success...
: Spike LeeSpike LeeShelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
's satire has fake ads for 'Da Bomb' malt liquorMalt liquorMalt liquor is a North American term referring to a type of beer with high alcohol content. In legal statutes, the term often includes any alcoholic beverage above or equal to 5% alcohol by volume made with malted barley. In common parlance, however, it is used for high-alcohol beers made with...
and a racistly-named parody of Tommy HilfigerTommy Hilfiger CorporationTommy Hilfiger Corporation is an American company which is incorporated in Hong Kong.In 1989, a Hong Kong businessman Silas Chou acquired Tommy Hilfiger Corporation via Sportswear Holdings Limited, along with his partner Lawrence Stroll. Chou served as Chairman and then Co-Chairman from 1989 to...
. In addition to the appearance in BamboozledBamboozledBamboozled is a 2000 satirical film written and directed by Spike Lee about a modern televised minstrel show featuring black actors donning blackface makeup and the violent fall-out from the show's success...
, 'Da Bomb' makes appearances in two other Spike Lee films, Clockers, and Inside ManInside ManInside Man is a 2006 crime-drama film directed by Spike Lee. It stars Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Willem Dafoe and Jodie Foster. The film's screenplay was written by Russell Gewirtz and produced by Brian Grazer...
. - Grindhouse: The film Grindhouse, which is essentially the movies Planet TerrorPlanet TerrorPlanet Terror is a 2007 American action horror film written and directed by Robert Rodriguez, about a group of people attempting to survive an onslaught of zombie-like creatures as they feud with a military unit, including a go-go dancer searching for a way to use her "useless talents." The film, a...
and Death ProofDeath ProofDeath Proof is a 2007 American action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film centers on a psychopathic stunt man who stalks young women before murdering them in staged car accidents using his "death-proof" stunt car...
combined, has trailersTrailer (film)A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the...
for a number of fictional films. These include MacheteMachete (film)Machete is a 2010 action film directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis. The "Machete" character originates from the 2001 Spy Kids film, written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. This film is an expansion of a fake trailer that was released together with Rodriguez's and Quentin Tarantino's...
, in which the FBI hires a mercenary rather than risk their own agents on a potential suicide mission; Werewolf Women of the SS about a group of women who run a nazi death camp; Don't, an exploitive horror film; Thanksgiving, a slasher film in the genre of the HalloweenHalloween (1978 film)Halloween is a 1978 American independent horror film directed, produced, and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut and the first installment in the Halloween franchise. The film is set in the fictional midwestern...
series; and Hobo With a Shotgun about a vigilante killer similar to the premise of the film Death WishDeath Wish (film)Death Wish is a 1974 crime thriller film loosely based on the novel Death Wish by Brian Garfield. The film was directed by Michael Winner and stars Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey, a man who becomes a vigilante after his wife is murdered and his daughter is sexually assaulted by muggers.The film was...
. The trailer for Machete was so well received it has been decided that the movie will actually be made. - RoboCopRoboCopRoboCop is a 1987 American science fiction-action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop"...
: Parody advertisements are seen throughout the RoboCop franchiseRoboCop (franchise)The RoboCop franchise, began in 1987 with the film RoboCop. RoboCop 2, followed in 1990 and RoboCop 3 in 1993. There have also been various television series, video game and comic book adaptations. The franchise has made over $109,715,854 USD worldwide.-Future:Sony Pictures was working on a new...
for products such as the "6000 SUX", a parody of the low fuel economy of many American-made cars at that time, the game "NUKEM", a parody of BattleshipBattleship (game)The game Battleship is a guessing game played by two people. It is known throughout the world as a pencil and paper game which predates World War I. It was published by Milton Bradley Company in 1931 as the pad-and-pencil game "Broadsides, the Game of Naval Strategy".-Description:The game is...
, and "Magnavolt", a car security system designed to electrocute and kill would-be carjackers. - UHFUHF (film)UHF is a 1989 American comedy film starring "Weird Al" Yankovic, David Bowe, Fran Drescher, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy, Michael Richards, Gedde Watanabe, Billy Barty, Anthony Geary, Emo Philips and Trinidad Silva, in whose memory the film is dedicated.The title refers to Ultra High Frequency...
: The Weird Al Yankovic film UHFUHF (film)UHF is a 1989 American comedy film starring "Weird Al" Yankovic, David Bowe, Fran Drescher, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy, Michael Richards, Gedde Watanabe, Billy Barty, Anthony Geary, Emo Philips and Trinidad Silva, in whose memory the film is dedicated.The title refers to Ultra High Frequency...
has a few fake ads within the film, such as "Spatula City", a store that sells nothing but spatulas, as well as promos for fake TV shows and movies like "Conan the LibrarianConan the LibrarianConan the Librarian is a perennial parody of R. E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian that has appeared in film, television, comics, and fan fiction.-You Can't Do That on Television:...
" and "Gandhi II".
Television
- The American sketch comedySketch comedyA sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
series Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
produces fictional commercials on a regular basis, usually shown after the guest host's monologue as an "introductory commercialSaturday Night Live commercialThe following is a partial list of Saturday Night Live commercial parodies. On Saturday Night Live , a parody advertisement is commonly shown after the host's opening monologue. Fast food, beer, feminine hygiene products, toys, and automobiles have been frequent targets.The commercial parodies have...
", prior to the beginning the main show. Many of these ads, while they parody actual TV commercials are simple comedic parodiesParodyA parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the style of the real advertisement rather than its product. - Likewise, many subsequent sketch comedy programs have utilized parody advertisements, including MAD TVMad TVMad TV may refer to:*MADtv, an American sketch comedy television series based on Mad magazine*Mad TV , a 1991 German television station management simulation game*MAD TV , a Greek music channel-See also:...
, In Living ColorIn Living ColorIn Living Color is an American sketch comedy television series, which originally ran on the Fox Network from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. Brothers Keenen and Damon Wayans created, wrote, and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions in association with 20th Century...
and The Idiot BoxThe Idiot Box (MTV)The Idiot Box was an American sketch comedy television series created by Alex Winter , Tom Stern and Tim Burns, which ran on MTV from 1990-1991....
. - Short CircuitzShort CircuitzShort Circutz was a series of short computer animated videos that were played on YTV.Most videos were 30 to 120 seconds long, often played between other computer animated shows, such as ReBoot and Beasties. The videos were all sampled from three film collections: The Mind's Eye, its sequel Beyond...
, an MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
sketch comedy show starring Nick CannonNick CannonNicholas Scott "Nick" Cannon is an American actor, comedian, rapper, entrepreneur, record producer, radio, and television personality. On television, Cannon began as a teenage sketch comedian on All That before going on to host The Nick Cannon Show, Wild 'N Out, and America's Got Talent...
, often featured parodies of popular advertisements. Its accompanying website, ShortCircuitz.mtv.com, allows users to upload their own parody advertisements to compete for a cash prize and a spot on the show.
Fictional advertisements for real products
- In the 1990s, the most famous series of parody advertisements were those for the Energizer battery. A parody itself of a DuracellDuracellDuracell is a brand of batteries manufactured by Procter & Gamble.Additionally, Duracell owns the Procell professional-use brand.-Products:Duracell manufactures alkaline batteries in many common sizes, such as AAA, AA, C, D, and 9V...
battery commercial, in its initial commercial episode first shown in October 1989, a toy pink rabbit, is being filmed in a commercial. The toy, powered by the battery, escapes the studio and begins a rampage, pounding a drum and rolling through other commercials being made, including those for coffee, wine, a fictional upcoming TV series, long distance service, breakfast cereal, and sinus medication. A total of 120 fictional commercials and 3 real ones (for Twinkies, Purina Cat Chow, and DuracellDuracellDuracell is a brand of batteries manufactured by Procter & Gamble.Additionally, Duracell owns the Procell professional-use brand.-Products:Duracell manufactures alkaline batteries in many common sizes, such as AAA, AA, C, D, and 9V...
) in both EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
involving the Energizer BunnyEnergizer BunnyThe Energizer Bunny is the marketing icon and mascot of Energizer batteries in North America. It is a pink toy rabbit wearing sunglasses and blue and white striped sandals that beats a bass drum bearing the Energizer logo. It is a parody of the preexistent Duracell Bunny, still seen in Europe and...
were made. - In an ironic twist, in 1991, Eveready Battery CompanyEnergizer HoldingsEnergizer Holdings is an American manufacturer of batteries and personal care products, headquartered in Town and Country, Missouri. Its most well known brands are Energizer and Eveready batteries, Schick, Wilkinson Sword and Edge shaving products, Playtex feminine hygiene and baby products, and...
sued the Adolph Coors CompanyAdolph Coors CompanyThe Golden, Colorado Adolph Coors Company was formerly a holding company controlled by the heirs of founder Adolph Coors. Its principal subsidiary is the Coors Brewing Company. It was founded in 1873....
over an ad for CoorsCoors Brewing CompanyThe Coors Brewing Company is a regional division of the world's fifth-largest brewing company, the Canadian Molson Coors Brewing Company and is the third-largest brewer in the United States...
beer it was producing, which showed actor Leslie NielsenLeslie NielsenLeslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...
in a full-size rabbit suit pounding a drum, which was parodying Eveready's Energizer BunnyEnergizer BunnyThe Energizer Bunny is the marketing icon and mascot of Energizer batteries in North America. It is a pink toy rabbit wearing sunglasses and blue and white striped sandals that beats a bass drum bearing the Energizer logo. It is a parody of the preexistent Duracell Bunny, still seen in Europe and...
commercials, which themselves are parodies of DuracellDuracellDuracell is a brand of batteries manufactured by Procter & Gamble.Additionally, Duracell owns the Procell professional-use brand.-Products:Duracell manufactures alkaline batteries in many common sizes, such as AAA, AA, C, D, and 9V...
advertisements and television program previews. Eveready claimed Coors' ad constituted copyright and trademark infringement. The court ruled that Coors' ad was a valid parody of Eveready's, considering that Mr. Nielsen "is not a toy, and does not run on batteries." Eveready Battery Co. v. Adolph Coors Co., 765 F. Supp. 440Case citationCase citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(N.D. Ill. 1991). - The GEICOGEICOThe Government Employees Insurance Company is an auto insurance company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway that as of 2007 provided coverage for more than 10 million motor vehicles owned by more than 9 million policy holders. GEICO writes private passenger automobile insurance...
insurance company ran a series of television commercials in which a victim in a disadvantaged situation hears their fate from the antagonistAntagonistAn antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
, that they have good news, only the good news is for the antagonist (The antagonist will usually say as the punchline, "I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to GEICO"). Some examples involved a fictional congressional hearing where the witness (the victim) is being informed he is subject to criminal penalties while the chairman of the committee (the antagonist) has saved money on his car insurance, a home repair show reminiscent of Bob VilaBob VilaRobert Joseph "Bob" Vila is an American home improvement television show host known for This Old House , Bob Vila's Home Again , and Bob Vila .-Early life:...
showing a victim couple with a home badly in need of repair, a fictional news report on a volcanic eruption, and a fictional hair restoration commercial. Another example parodied advertisements for reality TV shows, by showing a couple getting married, and getting disgruntled at living in a tiny house (the punchline: a voiceover saying "The drama may be real, but it won't save you any money on car insurance", followed by the wife asking her spouse in their tiny hot tubHot tubA hot tub is a large tub or small pool full of heated water and used for soaking, relaxation, massage, or hydrotherapy. In most cases, they have jets for massage purposes. Hot tubs are usually located outdoors, and are often sheltered for protection from the elements, as well as for privacy....
"Why haven't you called GEICO?"). - The Coca-ColaCoca-ColaCoca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
company's lemon-lime soft drink SpriteSprite (soft drink)Sprite is a transparent, lemon-lime flavored , caffeine free soft drink, produced by the Coca-Cola Company. It was introduced in the United States in 1961. This was Coke's response to the popularity of 7 Up, which had begun as "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda" in 1929...
ran a series of ads for other fictional drink products, which had actual or fictional celebrities endorsing the other product, with the implication that the fictional product was inadequate for quenching one's thirst. - The gimmick of characters from a commercial invading other spoof ads was first used by the BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Lager brewers Carling Black Label. The advert featured a wild west outlaw being roped by a possePosse comitatus (common law)Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
and dragging them off their horses and into adverts for a love compilation Album and Washing up powder. - "Poser Mobile" ran an advertising campaign for T-MobileT-MobileT-Mobile International AG is a German-based holding company for Deutsche Telekom AG's various mobile communications subsidiaries outside Germany. Based in Bonn, Germany, its subsidiaries operate GSM and UMTS-based cellular networks in Europe, the United States, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
's pay-as-you-go cell phone plan featuring a racially diverse group of hip-hopHip hop musicHip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
posers. The group of five ambush the cell phone customer and explain that he has to pay hidden charges and fees. One customer in a commercial calls them "clowns". It is somewhat of a parodyParodyA parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
on Boost MobileBoost MobileBoost Mobile is a brand of wireless prepay service run by Sprint Nextel, operating within the Sprint Prepaid Group along with Virgin Mobile USA, Assurance Wireless, and payLo by Virgin Mobile. Boost Mobile uses GSMand iDEN networks...
's "Where You At?" advertising campaign which features prominent hip-hopHip hop musicHip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
artists such as LudacrisLudacrisChristopher Brian Bridges , better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings...
, Kanye WestKanye WestKanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
, and The GameThe Game (rapper)Jayceon Terrell Taylor , better known by his stage name Game, formerly The Game, is an American rapper and actor. As a member of G-Unit, he rose to fame in 2005 with the success of his debut album, The Documentary, which earned him two Grammy Award nominations...
. - MasterCardMasterCardMastercard Incorporated or MasterCard Worldwide is an American multinational financial services corporation with its headquarters in the MasterCard International Global Headquarters, Purchase, Harrison, New York, United States...
’s “priceless” commercials have often been parodied http://humor.beecy.net/videos/priceless/. The general theme shows a normal setting where several expenses are listed, but at the end one absurd priceless expense constitutes a punch line.
Mad Magazine
Mad Magazine was notorious for regularly running obviously fictional ads for nonexistent products. However, many of these nonexistent products were clearly intended to be parodies of specific well-known brands of real-world products; frequently, the fictional advertisement in Mad parodied a specific genuine ad campaign for a recognizable brand-name product. For example, in the 1960s (when cigarettes could still be advertised on television), Kent Cigarettes ran a commercial featuring a series of line drawings illustrating the lyrics of a catchy jingle titled "The Taste of Kent". Mad promptly ran a fake print ad, using drawings which parodied the style of the line art, illustrating verses about lung cancer and emphysema to a lyric that parodied Kent's jingle, now titled "The Taste of Death".According to Frank Jacobs
Frank Jacobs
Frank Jacobs is an American author of satires, known primarily for his work in Mad, to which he has contributed since 1957. Jacobs has written a wide variety of lampoons and spoof, but he is best known as a versifier who contributes parodies of famous song lyrics and poems...
's biography The Mad World of William M. Gaines, Mad's parodies of real advertisements generated so much attention that Mad publisher William Gaines
William Gaines
William Maxwell Gaines , better known as Bill Gaines, was an American publisher and co-editor of EC Comics. Following a shift in EC's direction in 1950, Gaines presided over what became an artistically influential and historically important line of mature-audience comics...
received requests from the promotional departments of many real products, asking Mad to run parodies of their advertisements. Gaines's standard reply to such requests: "Come up with a really stupid ad campaign, and we'll be happy to make fun of it."
Hustler
The most serious incident involving a fictional advertisement in a magazine caused a lawsuit which reached all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, when Hustler Magazine ran a parody of a liquor ad which would ask people about their "first time." In the actual ad, what we are led to believe is that the person is being asked about their first sexual experience, when it turns out the question is about their first time they used the sponsor's product, a liqueur.In the parody advertisement in Hustler, the Reverend Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...
is supposedly quoted describing the first time he had sexual intercourse with his mother in an outhouse while intoxicated. Falwell sued Hustler Magazine and its publisher Larry Flynt
Larry Flynt
Larry Claxton Flynt, Jr. is an American publisher and the president of Larry Flynt Publications . In 2003, Arena magazine listed him as the number one on the "50 Powerful People in Porn" list....
for invasion of privacy, libel and emotional distress. The jury found for the magazine on the issue of libel (the fictional advertisement clearly indicated it was a parody), but awarded Mr. Falwell $350,000 in damages for the emotional distress and invasion of privacy claims. The Supreme Court ruled that, since the advertisement was so obviously a parody that no reasonable person could have believed it, Falwell was not libelled and thus is not entitled to damages for emotional distress, and he was not entitled to damages for invasion of privacy because he is a well-known public figure. Hustler Magazine, Inc. et al. v. Jerry Falwell
Hustler Magazine v. Falwell
In Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46 , the United States Supreme Court held, in a unanimous 8–0 decision , that the First Amendment's free-speech guarantee prohibits awarding damages to public figures to compensate for emotional distress intentionally inflicted upon them.Thus,...
, 485 U.S. 46, (1988)
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
.
Other examples
- The Adbusters Media Foundation's magazine Adbusters features advertisement parodies that are intended as sharp commentary on the social implications of either the product or the advertising campaign involved (also known as "Culture JammingCulture jammingCulture jamming, coined in 1984, denotes a tactic used by many anti-consumerist social movements to disrupt or subvert mainstream cultural institutions, including corporate advertising. Guerrilla semiotics and night discourse are sometimes used synonymously with the term culture jamming.Culture...
"). One example is a parody of the "Joe CamelJoe CamelJoe Camel was the advertising mascot for Camel cigarettes from late 1987 to July 12, 1997, appearing in magazine advertisements, billboards, and other print media.-History:The U.S. marketing team of R. J...
" advertising campaign for Camel Cigarettes, with a pseudo Joe Camel in a hospital bed, his head bald and an intravenous drip bottle leading into his arm, with the legend "Joe Chemo" on the faux ad, implying that the many years of smoking cigarettes has left "Joe" with cancer and requiring chemotherapyChemotherapyChemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
treatment. http://adbusters.org/spoofads/tobacco/jc2/ - The Wrigley's company created fictional print ads for Juicy FruitJuicy FruitJuicy Fruit is a brand of chewing gum made by the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, a U.S. company that since 2008 has been a subsidiary of the privately-held Mars, Incorporated. It was introduced in 1893, and in the 21st century the brand name is recognized by 99 percent of Americans, with total sales in...
, such as boy bands, an upcoming fictional movie poster, and a phony handheld game system. - Games MagazineGAMES MagazineGames magazine is a United States magazine devoted to games and puzzles, and is published by Games Publications, a division of Kappa Publishing Group.-History:...
, a monthly publication featuring game- and puzzle-related material, through the 1980s carried a fake ad feature noted (without page number) in each issue's contents with the tagline"Which of the pitches is full of hitches?" One featured item was an abacus simulator running on PCs made by the nonexistent Nat Soh Software Co. of Hong Kong. The challenge to readers was to scrutinize all of the ads to spot the fake.
Miscellaneous
- Superhero-themed rock band The AquabatsThe AquabatsThe Aquabats are an American rock band formed in 1994 in Orange County, California. They have released five full-length studio albums and have toured internationally. They are best known for their mythology, in which they claim to be superheroes on a quest to save the world from evil through music...
are notorious for styling their live shows after Saturday morning cartoonSaturday morning cartoonA Saturday morning cartoon is the colloquial term for the animated television programming that has typically been scheduled on Saturday mornings on the major American television networks from the 1960s to the present; the genre's peak in popularity mostly ended in the 1990s while the popularity of...
s, including engaging in scripted onstage battles with costumed monsters. Typically, when these villains crash the stage, the concert will "cut to commercial" and a video screen behind the band will project a pre-recorded advertisement for an obviously fake Aquabats-brand product, before returning to the show. Such products have included "The Aquabats Totally Slammin' Pudding Dispenser Belt", "The Aquabats Therapeutic Rub-O-Rama" ointment and official Aquabats t-shirts (which the commercial claims enables its wearer to eat nails and cut down trees with their bare knuckles).