50 Greatest Commercial Parodies of All Time

Today's most awesome thing on the Interwebs is Nerve Magazine's 50 Greatest Commercial Parodies of All Time. I knew this list was going to rock when I noticed that right off the bat, #50 was featured previously here on TOTI.

Wikipedia explains Nerve Magazine is:

"an American online magazine dedicated to sex, relationships and culture. Founded by Rufus Griscom and Genevieve Field, it publishes articles, fiction and photography devoted to sex and relationships, and interviews and criticism regarding film, music, books and television. It also hosts blogs, forums, and a section for personal advertisements."

Isn't that what every magazine is about, deep down? At least Nerve is open about it. Their editors are much more verbose and loopy with their self-description. The editors attempt to explain their little literary nugget's mission statement:

"We have created Nerve because we think sex is beautiful and absurd, remarkably fun and reliably trauma-inducing. In short, it is a subject in need of a fearless, intelligent forum for both genders. We believe that women (men too, but especially women) have waited long enough for a smart, honest magazine on sex, with cuntsure (and cocksure) prose and fiction as well as striking photographs of naked people that capture more than their flesh."

Whatev. The videos are much less-exciting than the magazine's description makes it sound, although still probably not great for at work/office-viewing. You can check out the videos ten at a time on separate pages: Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5.

A big hooray for flash enabling click-able top ten video lists like this. A big boo for some of the fuzzy sound/bad picture quality videos listed (*ahem*#28*ahem*). A big yay for the painstaking reviews and resurrected SNL treasure trove. The reviews stand on their own, so I won't try to reiterate or improve. In no particular order, here are a few choice winners in the big pharma parody category:

#42:

Over-the-counter medicines like NyQuil basically promise to induce a coma so you can remain unconscious while your cold runs its course — it's a popular product in our culture of discomfort avoidance. If we could just expand that remedy so it covers the entire flu season, half of America would probably opt to slumber from November to April, living off our ample body fat. It's no riddle why they cast Chris Farley for this one. — WD

#41:

This whole bit is basically one long buildup to the final line, which we will not give away here. Queen Latifa is grand as the frustrated office worker whose coworkers call her Denise, "which is stressful, because my name is Linda." Few comedians handle racial jokes with deft, and Latifa employs just the right mix of discomfort and sass in this sketch. — WD

#25:

Anyone who watched primetime television between 1999 and 2003 is familiar with the Zoloft Depression Egg. Its ubiquity was cloying enough, but it was Pfizer's attempt to personalize a psychological malady with an adorable mascot that was truly offensive. This bit goes for a few lame low-blows ("tendency to waste votes on green party," indeed), but the straight tone works remarkably well overall. — JC

(From BoingBoing)