Comments on: 50 Greatest Commercial Parodies

50 Greatest Commercial Parodies

Fuzzy Skinner — Mon, 05 May 2008 21:53:06 -0800

The 50 Greatest Commercial Parodies of All Time according to Nerve.com.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:10:12 -0800

Nerve.com appears to be unaware of commercial parodies from outside the US.

By: Fuzzy Skinner

Fuzzy Skinner — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:17:59 -0800

I'm sure they thoughtfully considered parodies from all countries and cultures, and the top 50 just happened to be of U.S. origin. What?

By: jacalata

jacalata — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:39:31 -0800

Commercial parodies? NBC seems to be wilfully rejecting the concept of people from outside the US. ("The clip you selected isn't available from your location").

By: tkolar

tkolar — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:44:15 -0800

This Nerve.com feature brought to you by the fine folks at NBC...

By: Fuzzy Skinner

Fuzzy Skinner — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:44:38 -0800

The blockage for non-US locations is a gigantic ball of suck. Conversely, I find a lot of stuff on youtube.co.uk (Top Gear, Chef Ramsay, etc) that shows as "removed" from youtube.com. (I'm in the US.)

By: SansPoint

SansPoint — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:48:42 -0800

"Super Bass-o-Matic '76" is deservedly #1. However "Happy Fun Ball" should be in the top 10 at least.

By: meech

meech — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:50:56 -0800

By: Gary

Gary — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:05:01 -0800

The IT Crowd's Anti-Piracy ad was a funny british parody ad. Even with the SNL bias, no Grayson Moorhead Securities? That's as bad as losing the list. (transcript only, sorry, part 1 is here)

By: tellurian

tellurian — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:09:33 -0800

I find a lot of stuff on youtube.co.uk (Top Gear, Chef Ramsay, etc) that shows as "removed" from youtube.com. (I'm in the US.) The British have that problem too. [via]

By: evilcolonel

evilcolonel — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:42:59 -0800

Is this the part where we post our own favorites? 5 Neat Guys

By: JHarris

JHarris — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:35:06 -0800

Um, I thought nerve.com was a kind of intelligent smut site? When did they start doing lists? (And I remember the comedy sketch list posted here previously; don't tell me that was the first.)

By: obvious

obvious — Tue, 06 May 2008 01:00:14 -0800

The numbering seems pretty arbitrary, with the hits and misses distributed evenly throughout. They could have just called it a list of 50 great commercial parodies - they didn't have to pretend to be ranking the greatest. I'll never get tired of the Bass-o-Matic, though. "That's terrific bass!"

By: dabitch

dabitch — Tue, 06 May 2008 01:27:52 -0800

Dangit, I so wanted to love this but I haven't been able to watch a single commercial-spoof yet. www? What does that mean?

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Tue, 06 May 2008 03:24:06 -0800

If it doesn't have the coffee commercial where Ricardo Montalban makes his spiel, takes a sip, puts the cup down, and says, "It's so fucking hot." - then it's not complete. It should also have Euell Gibbons going on and on about Post Grape-Nuts all-natural this and that, then ending with, "And that's no shit!" If anyone can find those on the web, they're doing better than me. I only saw them because a cameraman I knew back in the 70s had a tape.

By: ardgedee

ardgedee — Tue, 06 May 2008 03:41:24 -0800

From the Nerve article: "Parodies of such ads began popping up in the early '70s on shows like Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In." Uh, what?

By: Dave Faris

Dave Faris — Tue, 06 May 2008 04:13:07 -0800

Come on, ardgedee. That's in black and white. It doesn't count.

By: prefpara

prefpara — Tue, 06 May 2008 04:27:25 -0800

The best commercial parody I ever saw was on a comedy show in Russia (KVN). The scene: a warmly-lit family kitchen, where a happy mother is preparing dinner. She opens the fridge, looks lovingly at the butter, and says something like, "Acme Butter, you make every dinner better!" A man in a dark suit steps out of the fridge, looks grimly at the camera, and says: "Do you have problems? Do you converse with butter? Our mental health clinic can help. Call 1-555-555-5555 today."

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Tue, 06 May 2008 04:32:22 -0800

Of all-time? It's missing the zombie repellent ads of 2011. Which were only funny until 2012, when the zombies came for real.

By: gimonca

gimonca — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:02:18 -0800

Only one SCTV? I always liked the subtlety of this one.

By: Greg Nog

Greg Nog — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:07:41 -0800

Wow, that was quite a tender handjob for SNL.

By: pxe2000

pxe2000 — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:10:57 -0800

Isn't nerve.com a sex site? Have they turned into Suicide Girls, or is this an anomaly for them? Also: no mention of Synth Coke?

By: rmmcclay

rmmcclay — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:20:33 -0800

Of all time? Or since the 80's/90's?

By: Vindaloo

Vindaloo — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:21:56 -0800

Anyone got links for Bass-o-matic for us canucks? I was looking for that one via youtube the other day and found nothing.

By: Fuzzy Skinner

Fuzzy Skinner — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:25:51 -0800

Do you have problems? Do you converse with butter? That. Is. SO. FUNNY!!!!

By: sneakin

sneakin — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:40:58 -0800

I had to go straight to #1 just to make sure Bass-o-Matic got it. Thank goodness. Psyched that Jewess Jeans and Little Chocolate Donuts were in the top ten. I also have a real soft spot for the Jane Curtain Quarry Cereal commercial, as well, so I'm off to hunt for that. Basically, this is an awesome find.

By: MrMoonPie

MrMoonPie — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:11:53 -0800

What? No Aries K?

By: GooseOnTheLoose

GooseOnTheLoose — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:12:30 -0800

I wish I could find the Budweiser "wassup" commercial parody with the four guys saying something stupid like "wake up," "wheat cup," "wash cloth," and "whatsmafuhh." Originally found it on adcritic, and I thought it was the best parody of the commercial.

By: flarbuse

flarbuse — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:30:22 -0800

Timmi Hillnigger from Bamboozled Rex Kramer: Danger Seeker from Kentucky Fried Movie

By: misha

misha — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:40:50 -0800

Glad that the bank change commercial (true classic, and actually there were several during the show, a great running joke), bad idea jeans ("I thought about wearing protection, but then I thought, 'hey, when am I ever going to be in Haiti again?'") and my favorite, the Schlitz takeoff with the whole instant party theme, outside in the sun around the pool, only the bikini-clad girls are replaced by bodybuilder guys. Seems like every single beer commercial had that, "Drink this and you will be party central!" message. I don't always agree with the numbering, but they had most of my favorites in there, so good on ya' Nerve.

By: dobbs

dobbs — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:41:46 -0800

Nerve.com, proving once again that they can't make a website worth shit. "Like our personals site, we'll ensure slow loading, browser freezing, content that doesn't load outside America, and a general tone of We Don't Know What We're Doing!"

By: [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST]

[NOT HERMITOSIS-IST] — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:50:57 -0800

The very first one I watched, #50, is definitely funnier than like the next ten. Also, the captions for each one meant to set up the clip are really depressingly lame. All I can think about is some intern hunkered down spending 15 minutes times 50 to write copy for a bunch of clips that (ought to) totally speak for themselves. I'll still be watching this all day though.

By: Dizzy

Dizzy — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:59:14 -0800

"Robot Insurance" made me laugh so hard I cried. Like they'd actually pay me after little Snuggles was taken.

By: phaedon

phaedon — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:12:24 -0800

Can't believe Jimmy Tango's Fat Busters didn't crack the top 50!

By: mediareport

mediareport — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:19:07 -0800

Um, I thought nerve.com was a kind of intelligent smut site? When did they start doing lists? Nerve's Screengrab blog does a top 10 film list every Friday, fwiw, and has been for a while. Sometimes they're pretty good, but mostly they're meh, like most list posts. I think the popularity of that "best comedy skits" list Nerve did (it was linked everywhere) is to blame for this one, and for all the upcoming ones they're planning. But the over-reliance on US-only NBC content does make them look pretty stupid this time out, so maybe that'll slow them down.

By: chococat

chococat — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:31:41 -0800

When I saw it on SNL, I instantly thought the Annuale one (Number 50 on the list) was quite a rip-off of the awesome PMS short film that Andrea Martin and Catherine O'hara did for Letterman's "film festival" show in the mid-'80's. And I'm in Canada so I can't watch the Annuale one on this site anyway.

By: Pastabagel

Pastabagel — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:35:46 -0800

There was a brilliant parody commercial on Not Necessarily the News (I think) that advertised the CIA. I was essentially a man in a suit and sunglasses walking through an office building talking up the finer points of counterintelligence while all manner of horrific things were happening in the offices as he passed by. The commercial ended as the CIA agent walked onto an elevator with a sheik waiting inside. The slogan then appeared over the men in the elevator "The CIA: You Don't Know. You Don't Want to Know." Then the sheik fell forward revealing a knife in his back. It was brilliant, to the extent that my twenty-year old memory of a thirty second commercial holds up.

By: lukemeister

lukemeister — Tue, 06 May 2008 08:10:09 -0800

Um, I thought nerve.com was a kind of intelligent smut site? I guess they lost their nerve.

By: Dr-Baa

Dr-Baa — Tue, 06 May 2008 09:05:09 -0800

This may be audio only, but I think it stands with the best of that list: Laurence Olivier for Diet Coke. Also, for all the succulent hand-jobbing this list did for SNL, they missed one I really liked. Reading though the list made me realize something. I think SNL is so successful with commercial parodies because it's the only outlet on the program where they can get in, make their one-note joke, and get out. For regular skits they pad the single joke out for five minutes.

By: quin

quin — Tue, 06 May 2008 09:23:05 -0800

It's sort of amazing to watch some of these old works, which in most cases predate the comedians forays into 'serious acting'. Seeing Will Ferrel, Phil Hartman, Dan Akroyd, and John Belushi and playing straight hucksters is great! It's nice to see these people working at the top of their game, in little clips which were usually fantastic, and when they weren't, at least they were short enough to not be burdensome. I love Happy Fun Ball, and the Nerve's suggestion to view it, not as a kids toy, but as a pharmaceutical is pretty brilliant.

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Tue, 06 May 2008 09:32:32 -0800

The Very Bestest Commercial.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Tue, 06 May 2008 09:43:13 -0800

Man that annuale one was pretty funny. I like the warnings at the end - don't take it if you ever plan to become pregnant as it may turn your baby into "a fire-monster". I mean that's a feature, not a bug, amirite?

By: troybob

troybob — Tue, 06 May 2008 10:06:24 -0800

I've always been a fan of Crystal Gravy ("Finally, you can see your meat!"), but I had forgotten about Sam Waterston's Old Glory Robot Insurance ("Don't cower under your afghan any longer").

By: gimonca

gimonca — Tue, 06 May 2008 11:04:05 -0800

Tangentially, there's this, a reference to this.

By: evilcolonel

evilcolonel — Tue, 06 May 2008 11:27:00 -0800

gimonca: Tangentially, there's this , a reference to this . Maurice LaMarche is a god.

By: Uther Bentrazor

Uther Bentrazor — Tue, 06 May 2008 11:38:44 -0800

If nothing else, this post was worth it for Uncle Jemima's Pure Mash Liquor I JUS WANNA MAKE LIQUOR!

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:22:07 -0800

So now that I'm home and able to watch videos, I have to wonder... Where the hell is Log?

By: Sloop John B

Sloop John B — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:36:42 -0800

Um, I thought nerve.com was a kind of intelligent smut site? Nerve still does run lots of "smart sex" stuff, but it doesn't get much attention because... well, because it never really did to begin with. I mean, people like us who are young and smart and unconventional paid attention to it, but that alone won't pay the bills. General interest stuff like this brings in a lot more traffic.

By: Servo5678

Servo5678 — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:51:53 -0800

Adding to the outrage of forgotten ads: what, no Dillon/Edwards Investments? It's such a shame they waited so long to get into the online investment market.

By: arcticwoman

arcticwoman — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:27:23 -0800

I liked the ones I could see. Seriously, though... why is there no Bass-o-matic on youtube?

By: pernoctalian

pernoctalian — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:35:53 -0800

I would have thought the Visa Check Card commercials where everyone ostracizes the cash-paying lout would have gotten a well-deserved skewering by now.

By: dasheekeejones

dasheekeejones — Tue, 06 May 2008 19:04:21 -0800

Ah yes, when I used to think Ackroyd was hot.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:41:10 -0800

General interest stuff like this brings in a lot more traffic. More traffic then porn? I think they may be doing it wrong.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Wed, 07 May 2008 03:15:25 -0800

NCI long distance was short but sweet. I personally thought bug off was the funniest sketch SNL ever had. A little creepy too, but considering what it was parodying it worked.

By: Sloop John B

Sloop John B — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:24:53 -0800

More traffic then porn? I think they may be doing it wrong. They certainly are. All of their "porn" is behind a paywall.

By: Dr-Baa

Dr-Baa — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:57:13 -0800

Oh yeah, I forgot about this one (although it's probably disqualified because it's not from SNL).