A Clichéd Parody

by Nov 7, 2013
ClichédParody_1

We’ve all seen a lot of adverts. So many that we immediately know when we’re seeing an advert about insurance claims (have you had an accident at work that wasn’t your fault?), an artistic one for a car (have you noticed that there’s only ever one car on the road?) or a new healthy food product (remember; only women eat yoghurt).

But if any advert was to win ‘most clichéd’ it’d be a tech advert. As technology consumers, we are so fully conditioned to what a tech product advert should be like that it’s hard for them to stand out anymore, barely affecting our buying decisions at all.

So what happens when one of these clichéd tech-product-pushing campaigns appears and unexpectedly surprises you with a big fat ‘bet you didn’t see that coming, didya?!’ twist? Our conditioning is instantly challenged and we wake up a bit, realising this is no ordinary advert, no ordinary sales pitch, and it suddenly has our attention.

A while ago an advert for a mobile network showed trendy, overtly cool and quite frankly odd people describing how they want to be connected all the time, while not being connected at all…you what?! Then this bunch of confusing artistic people were suddenly replaced by a distinctly average man asking for unlimited mobile use for 30 quid a month, revealing the advert was in fact a spoof spot by Tesco – a no nonsense brand. See the ad here.

ClichédParody_2

Fast forward to Spring this year and we see an advert of the opening of what looks to be an Apple store, but filled with real apples and glasses of cider. The Somersby ‘Less apps, more apples’ script is brilliantly written to create a link between technical product specs and apples and cider. It’s certainly different from the usual orchard themed cider ads. See the ad here.

ClichédParody_3

And now chocolate brands are playing on the tech cliché. Take a look at KitKat’s new website: The future of confectionary – KitKat 4.4. They’ve found a different way to advertise an old, unchanged product by using the typical style of tech advertising, with choco-technical language such as ‘world renowned tricore, wafer thin, CPU with full chocolate coverage’. This is the same approach Somersby Cider took – irrelevant specs but humorous all the same. Somehow, this makes you read the website as each line is more clever than the last. See the ad here.

ClichédParody_4

The question is, with adverts pretending to be other adverts; will we remember what they’re advertising? Are these types of adverts grabbing our attention more than tech adverts do, completely changing the game? Well, if anything, at least they’re funny. Check out this vid from: College Humour.

Words by Guest Spot Workmate: Firuze French – @Firuze

[Images courtesy of Youtube]
hairy girl первый займ без комиссиибыстрый займ через интернет на картуглав займ

онлайн кредит на карту круглосуточно zaymi-bistro.ru займы которые дают абсолютно всем на карту круглосуточно
payday loans are short-term loans for small amounts of money https://zp-pdl.com payday loans online

About Firuze French

Firuze is headstrong but a fan of cute things. Although she’s a minimalist on the outside, she’s overly technical on the inside. As a design consultant, Firuze is always on hand to offer advice on creative and tech trends. She’s a London lover but New York dreamer who loves city life. Firuze considers herself an interior designer in training, DIY hobbyist and a lover of Michelin star dining for a bargain price.

Instagram