Comedic Artistry In Amazon Reviews

from the new-artforms dept

Thu, Dec 5th 2013 3:04pm — Mike Masnick

One of the more interesting things about the rise of the internet is how it inspires creativity and artwork in unexpected places. For example: the rise of Amazon reviews as a work of art. This "artform" probably really kicked off with the now infamous three wolf moon t-shirt, and a wacky comment left by Brian Govern almost exactly five years ago that inspired thousands of other wacky comments and, voila, virality.

I'm reminded of this as people are talking about another set of wacky reviews on Amazon, this time for a massive and insanely expensive Samsung 85" LED TV which normally runs $44,999.99, but is "discounted" to merely $39,997.99 (a bargain!) and somewhat amusingly notes that only 3 are left in stock. People have been having a field day in the comments, mocking the price, the features (free batteries with the remote!) and just the general idea that people are buying $40,000 TVs off of Amazon.

A few samples: There's Cheryl Gustafson's explanation of what pushes this over the edge:

At first I hesitated to make the purchase, but then I saw the two AA batteries were free with the remote, and I was all in! Having this really fills in that empty space we called a bathroom!

There's Hans Summers' play on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air or Scott Robertson's Star Trek reference. But, by far the one that most people are focusing on is the one from James Thach, which starts off innocently enough:

My wife and I bought this after selling our daughter Amanda into white slavery. We actually got a refurbished. It's missing the remote, but oh well-- for $10K off, I can afford a universal, right? The picture is amazing. I've never seen the world with such clarity.

Amanda, if you're reading this, hang in there, honey! We'll see you in a year.

The story goes on from there, including multiple updates and responses to "concerned" commenters. Comedy is subjective, but it's pretty damn amusing. That led me to check out Thach's other reviews, and while there are only a few, it appears that since reviewing that Samsung TV, he's really jumped headfirst into this new comedic art form, though most don't come off quite as clever as the Samsung TV (he focuses more on what might be called... "toilet humor" in quite a few of them).

Still, while the humor may be a mixed bag at times, there's something kind of amazing when you begin to realize that this is even a thing now. The ability to allow people to be creative in all sorts of new and interesting ways leads to creativity and entertainment in totally unexpected places. This is one of the reasons why we tend to think it's so important to allow for open forums for communications whenever and wherever possible, rather than focusing on top-down broadcast-style models of content production that were dominant last century. No, silly Amazon reviews aren't any form of "high art," and many people will dismiss them entirely, but there's something kind of special in seeing creativity spring up in odd places, and it's the kind of thing that the internet does so well.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: amazon reviews, comedy

22 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Namel3ss (profile), 5 Dec 2013 @ 3:17pm

Holy crap Batman!
The t-shirt in the Amazon link in the article has sizes up to XXXXX-Large (5X). They sure know their target market, don't they?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
MondoGordo (profile), 5 Dec 2013 @ 3:42pm

Comedy or not Americans are f'd up
somewhat amusingly notes that only 3 are left in stock.

As of 5:30 CST there is only 1 left in stock ... so one must conclude that 2 people actually bought this monstrosity.
For $40K on Amazon .... oy vey!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Christenson, 5 Dec 2013 @ 4:20pm

High Art it's not....
But it's sure good for a laugh! Go reviewers go!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
TheUglyOne (profile), 5 Dec 2013 @ 4:21pm

Copyright anyone?
Yeah the next thing you will see is a reviewer suing for copyright infringement for reposting his review.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
jupiterkansas (profile), 5 Dec 2013 @ 4:43pm

Not high art? And yet the time spent reading those reviews can be far more entertaining, creative, and applause-worthy than most of the television and movies that Hollywood produces.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
out_of_the_blue, 5 Dec 2013 @ 4:47pm

i was coming here to post exactly that, and here you are
[ link to this | view in thread ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

out_of_the_blue, 5 Dec 2013 @ 4:48pm

The internet is all about horrible wastes of time.
First, yes I'm guilty of it right here. My railing is about facts, though: corporatism and The Rich taking over the world, and at the least I'm on the right side. Mike is just here to cheer the wastes of time as such, labels it "creativity", and not so subtly promotes Amazon, one of his corporate sponsors.
Think the Internet means more competition? Take a look at the graph here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/30/amazon_dot_com_holds_ludicrous_lead_in_online_retail_sales/

1 2:48:15[n-305-6]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Chris, 5 Dec 2013 @ 5:35pm

Earlier than Three Wolf Moon
My introduction to the genre was this brilliant IT review of a children's book.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2VDKZ4X1F992Q/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0448421658& nodeID=283155&store=books
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2013 @ 5:45pm

Re: The internet is all about horrible wastes of time.
You really hate successful businesses and people don't you. (With the exception of your beloved movie studios/executives/overlords of course, who in your eyes are perfect angels where every over-reach, every illegal action, every immoral act is just an anomoly)

Is it because you are such an abject failure in every aspect of life?

Even you are welcome to compete against Amazon. Nothing stopping you, except your own incompetence/ laziness. I know, that is not how you roll, your kind wants everything for nothing.

You do realise that Amazon become successful and popular on the internet by giving the people (you know, the customers) what they wanted, how they wanted it, and when they wanted it.

See, if you could convince your overlord paymasters to take a page out of Amazons books, they could go back to making $200M movies and make a profit (Well, as far as their crooked accounting practices will allow anyway)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

Anonymous Coward, 5 Dec 2013 @ 6:51pm

Re:
From a practical stand-point art is a waste of time. Creativity is largely a waste of time in the arts, because everyone knows familiarity sells.

But sure, go back to sucking Dodd's massive MPAA shaft and shoving it where the sun doesn't shine.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
techflaws (profile), 5 Dec 2013 @ 11:05pm

The most hilarious review I've read so far is Arthur J Bullock Jr's of Ridley Scott's 'Prometheus' dubbed

The Scientist's Survival Pop Quiz v2.0

which I liked so much that I posted a German translation which of course received the very same non-sensical comments by crazy fanboys who just can't stand their favourite movie being demolished by common sense.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
haiku, 6 Dec 2013 @ 12:23am

Reviews for Veet
The reviews by males using Veet to remove hair from their "delicate parts" went viral at one stage, to the extent that Amazon removed a large number.

Definitely some of the funniest writing that I've ever come across ... 8)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 6 Dec 2013 @ 12:46am

Mmmm ... Janet Hubert
The only reason I actually watched FPoBA...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
PaulT (profile), 6 Dec 2013 @ 1:51am

Re: Re: The internet is all about horrible wastes of time.
It's almost ironic (and sadly predictable) that the expected moron uses a comment space on an article about people using such spaces in creative ways to repeat some of the least creative trolling in recent memory. I'll admit Amazon seems to be a new target, even though his objections are as usual wrong-headed and his "source" is a site similar to Techdirt whose editorial opinion he happens to agree with. No primary sources or ideas for this one!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Ninja (profile), 6 Dec 2013 @ 1:56am

Re: Earlier than Three Wolf Moon
God that was funny. Hats off to you dear sir.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Ninja (profile), 6 Dec 2013 @ 2:00am

Re: The internet is all about horrible wastes of time.
You should try other business venues. You are sort of bad at clown trolling. I advise ice dryer or used socks sniffer.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
BentFranklin (profile), 6 Dec 2013 @ 5:58am

Your first is always your favorite:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001F5STWU/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk?tag=vglnkc7198-20
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 6 Dec 2013 @ 6:15am

Even the celebs are involved
George Takei's posted several amusing comments - including the 3-wolf shirt.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 6 Dec 2013 @ 12:16pm

I want one!
Well I sold my trailer and my car but I'm still about 36 grand short. :(
[ link to this | view in thread ]
robert spano, 6 Dec 2013 @ 5:39pm

Re: I want one!
The Panasonic 152" is much better but it is a little more expensive. http://www.panasonic.com/business/Plasma/3D/3D-Plasma-TH-152UX1.asp probably around $120k
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Killer_Tofu (profile), 9 Dec 2013 @ 9:44am

Re: Even the celebs are involved
George Takei's are insanely humorous to me.
Wasted a morning reading through them all once. Well worth it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Ruby, 11 Dec 2013 @ 8:16pm

It's like Easter Eggs on Amazon
I came across this delightfulness while looking for Christmas presents. ^_^

http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-Desktop-Patrol-Dalek/dp/B003ZRPN70
[ link to this | view in thread ]