Playing the Straight Man to Consumer Generated Parody
January 23, 2008 by Eric Eggertson
Filed under Marketing
You have to admire the stiff upper lippedness of McDonald’s UK, as they respond to “questions” from “customers.”
At what point should they just throw up their arms and admit their stiff, corporate responses are being tested with the most bizarre, offputting questions imaginable?
No time soon, apparently.
This example of online tomfoolery reminds me of probably the best, most appalling parodies of book reviews I’ve ever read. Family Circus, on Amazon.com. Wikipedia describes the history.
Using high-brow critics’ style, the “reviewers” wrote sphincter-tightening, hilarious parodies of reviews of possibly one of the most banal cartoonists of modern time, Bil Keane.
Amazon noticed the buzz being generated about these masterpieces of critical comedy, and deleted them, but the legend continues.
There is a point when you don’t have to put up with the smirking hooligans pulling your corporate leg. But there’s no denying the fun that can be had at a someone else’s expense.
(A parody site that spawned the Amazon reviews still lives, despite being taken down from its original web home at the request of Keane, who explained that the nasty comments about the characters hit too close to home, since he modeled the characters after his kids.)
Eric - this is interesting and timely. We’re about to launch a satire site on the biz channel…
What do you is attractive about parody/satire to folks? And at the same time, why do they fear it?
Kelly:
I think satire appeals because it lets people say things that would never be said in polite company. Some of that is really important to dredge out of the recesses of our collective consciousness.
Of course, some satire is just mean.
As for why people fear satire … no one wants to hear someone say that their strongly held beliefs are a joke. I think we fear hearing an accurate depiction of our beliefs. Maybe having them skewered will weaken our resolve, or something.
Plus, some people never get past the rudeness of satire.
Hello. And Bye. :)