Tag Archives: satire

Tosh 2.0, Meet Double Dream Hands!

Well apparently I fell asleep on the viral road tour last month, because I completely missed the “Double Dream Hands” mini-meme, which seemed to have peaked in December 2010.

This morning I was encouraged by YouTube’s recommendations to subscribe to Fisheloph. The odd name, with the creepy thumbnail was more than I could resist, and I was tickled to discover this “Double Dream Hands” video featuring this most peculiar choreography instructional video for something called “Planet Rock.” Then I noticed a sea of parodies and variations suggestive of a meme… some with few views but worthy of more.

Choreographer John Jacobson brings the "Double Dream Hands" to the masses

For some background on this mini-meme, check out Eliot Glazer’s URLesque article about John Jacobson (his official site), that charismatic dancer who “is apparently on break from his shift at Petco.” In fact, after you learn his dance, you can buy his yellow polo if you want to get hip to the 2011 fashion trend.

So if you’ve seen this one, please shed some light. If you haven’t, please meet the 2010/2011 Double Rainbow… it’s Double Dream Hands, and we’d expect to see him on Tosh 2.0 soon. And be sure to see Hanford High School’s gym performance of Jacobson’s dance, accompanied by his vocal instructions. I’d like to see Tosh erecting the dance, and culminating with something as bodacious as Perez Hilton shooting Double Rainbows out his butt.

We hope to see the "Double Dream Hands" guy on Tosh 2.0 in a celebration of absurdity and ambiguous gayness. Add a swastika and some black jokes to jazz it up even more.

Why Old Spice Is Killing Social Media in 2011

Okay first check out this top-10 list of social-media marketing fails and wins. I just happened to find the Canadian article titled “Top 10 social media hits and misse in 2010,” and my own video hiding in it. Can you find it? Yeah that’s me as the press secretary for Tony Hayward. The accent is fake. I’m not British.

I love the Old Spice campaign, but it’s going to cause some serious road kills in 2011. Why?

Wieden + Kennedy , the advertising agency behind Old Spice’s grand 2010 marketing campaign, turned actor Isaiah Mustafa into a household name. And they made it look easy, so now everyone’s going to want to “pull an Old Spice..” In fact I’ll have to write a new book called “Beyond Old Spice.” Caution ambitious agencies and brands… this was a major coordinated effort that involved significant media spending and crafty use of social media. It’s going to be imitated a lot in 2011 and poorly so.

Anyway I’m giggling that the Globe & Mail (Amber Macarthur) article happened to select my YouTube parody about BP to demonstrate that fail online.

You can’t imagine how weird it is to be reading about social-media marketing, and notice your video is the example.

I’m really big in Canada. I keep telling you that, and it’s like you don’t believe it. Nalts is to Canada as Jerry Lewis is to France. I’m the friggin Shanecarl Wheezyhiga of Canada.

Someone needs to put the computer down and leave Starbucks immediately, as he rapidly tumbles down the hill of unproductivity entering hour number 10. I feel the Via coursing through my veins. The irony is that I’m in the Starbucks at which I shot the exterior shot of the via sponsored video, but they wouldn’t let me tape in the store. I wonder if BP would let me tape in its lobby. Maybe the BP Canadian office.

Make Your Own CNN News: Nancy Grace Competition?

Looking for a DIY (do it yourself) news site to show TSA (transportation security administration) “pat downs” that are TMI (two much information)? Well put down your acronyms, and get out your cameras…

I’m not sure how long this has been around, but I find this consumer-generate “breaking news” site interesting. CNN has a consumer-generated news section.

fake cnn news girls box nancy grace
Move over, Nancy Grace. CNN has "make your own news" website. Live executions coming soon?

People are uploading photos of car wrecks, notes for missing children, and (most importantly) videos about the latest TSA agent who looked at them funny (Parenthetically I saw a guy snapping a photo of his mom getting a perfectly appropriate TSA pat-down, and he was politely told to put the camera away… there’s some saucy Nancy-Grace like news).

  • The bad news: the “most viewed” videos or photos have been seen only a dozen times or so. It’s not popular, and akin to setting up your own VHS camera and showing your homemade “news report” to your friends.
  • The good news: it has a high perceptual value of importance and credibility despite the “not vetted by CNN news” disclaimer. It’s on CNN.com and listed as “breaking news.” So if it was produced well… it would be hard for someone to internalize the disclaimer.

How long before people start packaging up fake “product reviews” and using CNN to distribute them? I gather someone at CNN has the sad task of seeking and killing spam, but it seems like a spammer or infomercial’s playground… or at least a few Nancy Grace impersonators. I wonder if CNN would pull the content if someone took the “Nancy Grace model” just one step further and actually performed a live execution of the victim of the news report. Or at least a lynch mob.

Officer Bubbles Sues YouTube Commenters

Watch out folks. “Officer Bubbles” (Toronto police constable Adam Josephs) is suing not just the people behind YouTube video parodies of his anti-bubble threat (example from a 2-day old account “MisterOfficerBubbles” channel that’s soon to vanish), but commenters as well. According to this post, Josephs is suing Todd “pussymcfats” Mara (age 33 and father of two) for more than $1 million for spoofing the original clip.

The original video, posted in July 2010, showed the constable warning an anti-G20 protester (nurse Courtney Winkles) not to blow bubbles at him. TheRealNews clip then attracted parodies, remixes and comments.

For a full background see The Toronto Star’s coverage of “pussymcfats” and “thepmocanada” (both accounts are closed). The Star reports that Josephs is suing and that, “Josephs suggests the cartoons and comments are “false and devastatingly defamatory” for implying that he is a narcissist, among other things.”

The entire event sounds quite familiar to me for reasons I’ve been advised not to express right now. But let’s just say that Josephs is unlikely to improve or recover his tarnished image through the lawsuits, and the parodies are likely covered by free speech and satire. Even if Josephs manages to win or settle for a trivial amount, it won’t likely cover the cost of his attorneys or the increasing damage of the drama.

Would you rather be known as the police officer who became perhaps legitimately frustrated when bubbles were blown in your face, or the guy who tried to sue people who commented on parodies and found it amusing? I think I speak for most employers in saying I’d hire the former, but not the latter.

Watch what you say in the comments, friends. The Canadian Mounties are watching.

Samsung Calls Consumer Reports “Not Honorable”

Samsung CEO Geesung Choi called Consumer Union, the non-profit product-testing organization behind Consumer Reports magazine, “not honorable.” Choi on Monday cited the October 2010 issue of the magazine, which gave Samsung low scores on high-definition and standard-definition video camcorders.

"Consumer Reporting not honorable," says Samsung CEO Geesung Choi

“American magazine making JVC and Sony best-buy awards is insult to my family and character,” said Choi at a press meeting yesterday. “Consumer Deport (sic) will caused me great suffering and humiliation,” the CEO shouted at a press meeting that is already being satired on such online-video sites as Revver and YouTube. AP News reporter David Scheyd asked Choi to identify if Consumer Reports has any conflicts of interest or missinformation, but Choi declined to speak about the unfavorable ratings of the Samsung HMX-H204 and SMX-C24.

“We people of Samsung find better reviews by cooperative publishers like Very Eager Product magazine,” said Choi. The publication, according to Washington Post writer Richard Winters, is edited by Choi’s niece, Xiuxiu Ch’eng. Ch’eng’s previous review magazines were the subject of a CNN “Bogus Review” article. “When you see merchandise or merchant ratings, or prices that look too good to be true, be cautious,” said Heather Dougherty, analyst with Nielsen/NetRatings. Very Eager Product’s September 2010 issue gave Samsung’s digital-camera line “5 eager stars” and reports Samsung’s recent camcorders are “strong to please and suiting whole family needs for easy utilization and bright leadership in electronic consumer portfolio.”

Consumer Union President Jim Guest e-mailed a statement claiming he is “not concerned about Samsung’s allegations.” “It’s quite common for a manufacturer to dispute the credibility of our publication when we review them unfavorably,” wrote Guest. “We do our best to maintain objective reviews using consistant processes, and surveys of millions of consumers regarding their experiences with products and services.” Guest found himself facing similar attacks just months ago when the magazine’s poor review of the iPhone prompted Steve Jobs to call the magazine: “Lying liars who lie.”

Consumer Reports October 2010 issue “capable camcorders” awarded CR Best Buys to JVC’s A5 and Sony’s A10, crediting such attributes as image quality, excellent battery life and autofocus. The article indicated that manufacturers have discontinued DVD and MiniDV tape models.

Samsung is opting to depart from the evolving industry-standard of flash media. Choi said Samsung’s 2011 video cameras will “pursue new waters of storage and finer horizons for image holding,” citing the Samsung CMX2’s Iomega Zip Drive camera available in February 2010. He cited Samsung’s ongoing commitment to “make better society and humans.”

Samsung to recycle Iomega Zip Drives for 2011 model

Sony USA CEO, Sir Howard Stringer, released a statement on Monday indicating that Consumer Reports maintains Sony’s respect. “We appreciate hard working Americans, and nothing says American like Consumer Reports.” Stringer asked that WillVideoForFood not use Stringer’s “Sir” title in reporting. JVC declined specific comment, but spokesperson Alice Preis acknowledged that the company was “f’ing stoked” about the magazine’s positive ratings on 5 of its JVC models.

Consumerist.com reported last week that “Samsung is not sure where Samsung apps will work,” and Technorati reported that Samsung has launched the highly anticipated Galaxy Tab claiming to be “just as good as the iPad.” Choi yesterday said the Galaxy Tab was “many appealing superiority” to the iPad, and projects 2010 sales to exceed the company’s adjusted forecast of 845 units.

Technorati reported in August that Samsung is overhauling its business model to remain competitive and innovative, and is diversifying its business. Samsung’s public list of affiliated companies, however, has no listing of what Technorati is calling Samsung’s new “Very Suspicious Supermarket” chain in the Bronx, NYC.

P.S. I’m kidding. Thanks, Slater, for pointing out this wonderful Samsung video promoting the, um, galaxy thing. Dang this is so wonderful! If you don’t smile watching this than you’re the Uncle Bus who appears in the video linked above. Appreciate the tip, Brett… I’m going to use this as a “best in class” of viral video marketing because it is.

Technorati claimed last week that Samsung is behind new chain of "Very Suspicious Supermarkets" in NYC

Staten Island Girls (Katie Perry’s California Girls Parody)


Thumbs up to these gals for their amateur but brilliant Katie Perry satire of California Girls. It’s “Staten Island Girls,” and deliciously skanky and humorous depiction of New Jersey.

Just 5 years ago these gals would have been able to share this with their friends, but now the whole world gets to giggle. Oh wait. Five years ago Katie Perry wasn’t a household name, and these girls were probably playing with Strawberry Shortcake dolls.

My favorite two moments? The gardner hiding his face (criminal record?) and the gas station guy getting caught staring at the booty.

iPhone4G Press Conference Parody

Oh hush. What it lacks in humor it makes up for in timeliness. Let’s see you put an iPhone4G in your butt for the Internet. Or drive into the backyard of some crazy person so you can get near a cell phone tower.

My favorite quote of Steve Jobs: .55 percent of iPhone4G users complained. Seriously? Common C’mon. I had prooblems (despite the video statement) but knew better than to sit on hold. Besides- I’m guessing the other 99% just dropped their call before Apple answered.

Well there are many things Apple does well, but damage control or issue management is not among them.

Yey free 2 cent bumper iPhone condoms and they’ll even honor that 30-day money back guarantee! Weeks later Jobs will be reporting that fewer than .55 percent of people felt like he didn’t do a perfect job handling this issue, so if you thought otherwise, you’d better log your complaint.