Brands and Burlesque: Toward a Theory of Spoof Advertising

Parody, or spoof advertising, is as old as advertising itself. However, the rise of consumer generated content and its rapid diffusion have created a veritable epidemic of spoof ads aimed at companies and their brands. Brands are increasingly becoming the targets of burlesque. Marketers, faced with a loss of control over their message, are left wondering why some brands are mercilessly ridiculed while others seem impervious and immune. In this paper we address the central question of “which brands are most at risk of being parodied, and why?” To this end we develop a theory of spoof advertising based on the literatures of burlesque, satire, and caricature. We then apply the theoretical model to a well-known spoof ad to illustrate the theory’s explanatory power. Finally, we discuss avenues for future research in this area.