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Culture

by Mike Masnick

Tue, Oct 12th 2010 10:50am




Filed Under:
advertising, content, grover, old spice, sesame street


Sesame Street Recognizes That Advertising Is Content... On A Horse... Cow

from the i'm-on-a-horse dept

Earlier this year, we talked about the viral sensation of the Old Spice "I'm on a horse" ads, which have since morphed into various other successful campaigns:
Not surprisingly, this has created a ton of parodies and spoofs... but what I wasn't expecting was that Sesame Street would do its own parody of a TV commercial:
Now, it should be admitted that Sesame Street has been getting a bit edgier lately, with the whole controversy over Katy Perry's "appearance" with Elmo, and the whole "sexy" Sesame Street Halloween costume thing, but still I find this fascinating. While there are some who are worried about the role of advertising on children's TV, this seems to be an admission by Sesame Street in recognizing that ads are content too, and it can use that to its own advantage. Lots of people love the Old Spice ad, so why not play off of that to get some attention to its own work?

27 Comments | Leave a Comment

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  1.  
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    ChurchHatesTucker (profile), Oct 12th, 2010 @ 11:00am

    Adult service

    This strikes me as one of those tidbits they throw out knowing that the adults watching with their kids will get more out of it than the kids themselves (while not depriving kids of the confusing world of prepositions.)

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  
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    Kingster (profile), Oct 12th, 2010 @ 11:01am

    I'm surprised that Sesame Street hasn't been sued for copying (aka parodying) the commercial...

    Course, it may just serve to sell more Old Spice... To kids.

    "I'm on a rant."

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Oct 12th, 2010 @ 11:05am

    awesome

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Oct 12th, 2010 @ 11:15am

    LOVE IT!
    I think Sesame Street has had to update itself because of fresh competition like YoGabaGaba (which puts on an awesome live show).

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  
    icon
    weneedhelp (profile), Oct 12th, 2010 @ 11:27am

    Cookie Monster

    has the best lines.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  
    icon
    Dark Helmet (profile), Oct 12th, 2010 @ 11:40am

    Re: Cookie Monster

    That's because his shit is pure....

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  7.  
    identicon
    Bartman, Oct 12th, 2010 @ 12:11pm

    As a father who has to watch Sesame Street pretty much every morning, I gotta say, this is one of the best things I have seen from them in a while. Way to go, and I hope they do more like this

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  8.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Oct 12th, 2010 @ 12:12pm

    Re: Sesame Street Parodying

    Sesame Street is safe on this one - because as you pointed out this is clearly a parody, there aren't any copying/copyright legal issues that arise. Old Spice has no right which would protect them from a parody like this.

    Sesame street can go on climbing back into the public consciousness without fear of any real lawsuit.

    Plus, all kids should be wearing old spice deodorant, and using the aftershave of course.

    James
    www.allmediaLP.com

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  9.  
    icon
    weneedhelp (profile), Oct 12th, 2010 @ 12:21pm

    Re: Re: Cookie Monster

    Cookie has a Colombian connection.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul9MtMiIOnE


    "Me think you have misconception. About cookie-eating procedure"
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHfEmIXkWfg

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  10.  
    icon
    The Infamous Joe (profile), Oct 12th, 2010 @ 12:21pm

    Re: Re: Cookie Monster

    You know he eats vegetables now, right. He's sold out just like the rest of them, sad to say.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  11.  
    identicon
    IronM@sk, Oct 12th, 2010 @ 12:47pm

    FurTV

    ^ Please come back Mo Fo's

    signed
    Pussy Monster

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  12.  
    identicon
    Gwiz, Oct 12th, 2010 @ 12:47pm

    Dang. I saw the Sesame Street version yesterday and have been waiting for someone in the TechDirt comments to say "...on a horse" so I could reply with "...er...cow". Done ruined all my fun for today...guess I'll do some work now.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  13.  
    icon
    Dark Helmet (profile), Oct 12th, 2010 @ 12:47pm

    Re: Re: Re: Cookie Monster

    That's just his public persona. He's still using, abusing, and distributing kilos worth of "white chocolate".

    Why do you think he's so jacked up with his eyes constantly rolling all over the place?

    C is not for cookie, my friend. Not even a little bit....

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  14.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Oct 12th, 2010 @ 12:49pm

    Does Mikey Like?

    That Sesame Street video was funny when it had only 10,000 views. It went viral fast...

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  15.  
    identicon
    Gwiz, Oct 12th, 2010 @ 12:54pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Cookie Monster

    When the discussion is about the Cookie Monster the "Save me a cookie" checkbox at the bottom of this page seems to have more importance.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  16.  
    icon
    The Infamous Joe (profile), Oct 12th, 2010 @ 1:05pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Cookie Monster

    You, sir or ma'am, win.

    I don't see that message anymore. Now I miss it.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  17.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Oct 12th, 2010 @ 1:07pm

    Sales of the word "on" have gone through the roof because of this ad.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  18.  
    icon
    byte^me (profile), Oct 12th, 2010 @ 1:07pm

    Re: Re: Sesame Street Parodying

    I hope Old Spice doesn't start going legal on these parodies. Marvel even did one using the same actor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d3RqCUvK3g&feature=player_embedded#!

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  19.  
    icon
    Shawn (profile), Oct 12th, 2010 @ 1:10pm

    Re: Does Mikey Like?

    Look at your comment. Back to mine. Back to yours NOW BACK TO MINE. Sadly, it isn't mine. But if you stopped trolling and started posting legitimate crap it could LOOK like mine. Look down, back up, where are you? You're scrolling through comments, finding the ones that your comment could look like. Back at mine, what is it? It's a highly effective counter-troll. Look again, MY COMMENT IS NOW DIAMONDS.

    Anything is possible when you think before you comment or post.

    I'm on a computer

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  20.  
    identicon
    Gwiz, Oct 12th, 2010 @ 1:18pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Cookie Monster

    FYI: It's "sir". I am a man.....on a...ah nevermind...it's jumped the shark now.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  21.  
    identicon
    David Tusick, Oct 12th, 2010 @ 1:34pm

    I somehow missed this. I didn't think this was a real sesame street production at first. My company runs a blog where we talk about these type of things in a business context and I normally catch these things. Thanks for the post.

    Do you have a twitter account?

    and if you want you can check our blog, you may like it. socialmedianaires.com

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  22.  
    icon
    Rikuo (profile), Oct 12th, 2010 @ 1:34pm

    Re: Re: Does Mikey Like?

    Can't wait for someone to counter "I'm on a Mac".

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  23.  
    icon
    The Infamous Joe (profile), Oct 12th, 2010 @ 2:27pm

    Re: Re: Re: Does Mikey Like?

    I considered it, but he said "computer" not "PC", so it wouldn't really fit.

    ..and mine would have been "I'm on a Linux Box." ;)

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  24.  
    icon
    Karl (profile), Oct 12th, 2010 @ 3:27pm

    Sesame Street videos

    This is my favorite video starring a Sesame Street character:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOn1htjSZic

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  25.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Oct 12th, 2010 @ 4:54pm

    Re:

    Im on a boat.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  26.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Oct 13th, 2010 @ 4:44am

    Re: Adult service

    Sesame Street has always done bits to appeal to the parents. They did an Amazing Race parody a couple of years ago that had me in stitches. I would say if you weren't parodied by Sesame Street, MAD Magazine or SNL your advertising agency is doing something wrong.

    When I was in High School in the seventies I would come home from school to find my Mom watching Sesame Street. She always loved the Muppets and it was better TV than the soaps.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  27.  
    identicon
    Funny Ads, Oct 13th, 2010 @ 7:01am

    I'm on a...

    horse ... Moooo ... a.. cow ! Funny!

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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