The usefulness of parodies

Parodies are pretty fun, they are light, comedic and mock the main message. But what does this mean for brands?

Should you block them? Take legal action? Or join in the laugh? More often parodies tend to be shared more than the actual message, however this always seems to be like an inside joke. After all how do you know what the parody is mocking until you see the real thing?

Case in point, is the latest campaign by Dove on Real Beauty 'Sketches'. Dove has been used as a parody on numerous occasions so it should not come as a surprise that their latest effort is the source of 'Dove real beauty sketches - Men'.

So is this really a bad thing? In my point of view, if parodies (as long as they are not overly offensive, racist or abusive) help create curiosity and spread the real message then why not? Open conversation is the basis of User generated conversation and social media which push the brand to the forefront of people's attention.

Here's the original Dove - Real Beauty 'Sketches'

and here's the parody 'Dove Real Beauty Sketches - Men'