I love adverts that parody the hipster culture which is all around us these days. Samsung did an excellent job of this back when the Galaxy SII launched with this ad, which takes a pop at Apple iPhone fanboys. As the disciples of Jobs wait in long lines for their new iPhone, they slowly realise a better phone is already available. (Best bit: Fanboy 1: "I could never get a Samsung, I'm creative." Fanboy 2: "Dude, you're a barista.") The ads for McDonald's McCafe coffee range have also been taking jabs at hipsters for the last couple of years, especially here and here. The ads brilliantly parody the fetishisation of coffee, complete with bizarre new preparation, serving and consumption rituals, and the smug and condescending way in which hipsters talk about it. With humour, these ads cut through the crap and demystify the process of ordering yourself a simple flat white.
A similarly clever and funny ad which caught my eye recently is the new spot for Ribena. This ad sends up hipsters again, although this ad takes the joke one step further by making the fetishised drink not coffee but blackcurrant juice. The ad’s "blackcurrant artist" wears the usual hipster uniform of beard and thick-framed glasses. He talks pompously about his artistry and names his berries things like “sphere of purple rhapsody”, only for his boss to abruptly bring him back down to earth and reveal that he is in fact just a lowly fruit picker.
These ads parody a subculture that we’re all familiar with. They use language to reveal and mock hipsters’ inflated egos, then quickly deflate them with a dose of reality. This makes these ads topical, clever and funny – three of the best things an ad can be.
Edit: and now Fosters are at it with this prat who'll only drink his lager out of a jam jar. It seems hipsters are fair game for advertisers now.
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