Faux-Fake: “I am not selling what I say I am – I am selling what I say I am not selling”
To illustrate: The progression of “Faux Pitch Men”
True-True – Sham wow “I am who I say I am - selling what I say I am.”
Faux-True: Norelco: Shave Everywhere “I am not who I say I am - selling what I say I am.”
Faux-False: Jetpack Adspace
Successful Faux-False ads tap into that exciting/shameful moment you feel when you first suspect you are being told a lie. It is that sub-conscious tension between what appears to be true and the growing realization that it is false which makes these kind of ads really work. Good Faux-False make us feel smart for a few seconds – before we slip back into a Web-based stupor. Great Faux-Fake extend that moment indefinitely.
The danger in the Faux-False approach is that if the lie is too obvious it is either boring or insulting. For example: this BMW motorcycle “viral” is clearly faked - tipped by the bogus congratulatory pile-on at the end and just falls flat.
Jetpack’s deception is burred much deeper – Calling the client an asshole still has enough shock value to provide cover for the fact that it is still business as usual: Jetpack gets paid. Advertisers get paid. And of course, Google gets paid.
Like the old saying goes: The more things change, the more google embeds itself into every dark corner of our lives!
