Wednesday, December 12, 2007

A Spoof on a Spoof? Or just a Blatant Rip-Off?



I saw this ad on TV this past weekend. Within the first 1.3 seconds, I recognized the treatment and automatically assumed it was a new spot for Geico. A big fan of Geico's spots, I watched in pleasure, waiting for the punchline I was certain was coming.

Imagine my disappointment when the actual product reveal came.

First, this spot isn't done quite as well as Geico's. Second, it doesn't seem to work as a parody of Geico's parodies, which leads me to think it's just a blatant rip-off of a concept that has worked so successfully for the auto insurance company. Geico has done such a good job with spoof concepts (I love their Tiny House spot) that recognition is there even when it's not supposed to be.

Or maybe it's just me.

What do you think? Has Geico become the master of The Spoof? Does this spot's message get lost in translation because it so closely resembles Geico? Can I really use the word "Geico" one more time in this post? Or is it really just me?

2 comments:

Christine said...

I agree. It's a very disappointing commercial. It's not a clear parody, so it seems more like poorly executed rip-off.

VBuberalles said...

It took me 3.9 seconds to recognize the treatment.