The art of self-deprecation

Name some brands that make fun of themselves in their advertising, we asked. We gave you a few examples, of Volkswagen and Avis. There are more examples of such ads by those companies themselves. Then there is Microsoft, which some time ago, created some videos with The Onion which poked fun at its own Internet Explorer for being a fuddy-duddy. In another instance, The Onion also spoofed Tide in a piece about a ‘cool new viral video’ and Tide responded with a video of its own. (Some reports wonder if even the first one was made by Tide to whip up some excitement.) Then there is the entire Old Spice range of ads with Isaiah Mustafa and a Kotex ad which uses footage from earlier ads by it to approach the subject of women’s hygiene without being clichéd and patronising.

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