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

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

Tue, Oct 12th 2010 10:50am — Mike Masnick

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?

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

27 Comments

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ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 12 Oct 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.)
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Kingster (profile), 12 Oct 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."
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Oct 2010 @ 11:05am

awesome
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Oct 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).
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weneedhelp (profile), 12 Oct 2010 @ 11:27am

Cookie Monster
has the best lines.
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Dark Helmet (profile), 12 Oct 2010 @ 11:40am

Re: Cookie Monster
That's because his shit is pure....
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Bartman, 12 Oct 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
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Oct 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
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weneedhelp (profile), 12 Oct 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
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The Infamous Joe (profile), 12 Oct 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.
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IronM@sk, 12 Oct 2010 @ 12:47pm

FurTV
^ Please come back Mo Fo's

signed
Pussy Monster
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Gwiz, 12 Oct 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.
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Dark Helmet (profile), 12 Oct 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....
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Oct 2010 @ 12:49pm

Does Mikey Like?
That Sesame Street video was funny when it had only 10,000 views. It went viral fast...
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Gwiz, 12 Oct 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.
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The Infamous Joe (profile), 12 Oct 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.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Oct 2010 @ 1:07pm

Sales of the word "on" have gone through the roof because of this ad.
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byte^me (profile), 12 Oct 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#!
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Shawn (profile), 12 Oct 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
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Gwiz, 12 Oct 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.
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David Tusick, 12 Oct 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
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Rikuo (profile), 12 Oct 2010 @ 1:34pm

Re: Re: Does Mikey Like?
Can't wait for someone to counter "I'm on a Mac".
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The Infamous Joe (profile), 12 Oct 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." ;)
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Karl (profile), 12 Oct 2010 @ 3:27pm

Sesame Street videos
This is my favorite video starring a Sesame Street character:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOn1htjSZic
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Oct 2010 @ 4:54pm

Re:
Im on a boat.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Oct 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.
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Funny Ads, 13 Oct 2010 @ 7:01am

I'm on a...
horse ... Moooo ... a.. cow ! Funny!
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