Pure Michigan Parodies
In a state where weather is bipolar, sports teams are not that good, and cities are known by their poverty and violence, Pure Michigan parodies will make all that negativity and turn it into something you can laugh at. These parodies were created for viewers that love to laugh about, well, the truth about our state. Topics like the Detroit Lions, the Tigers, our winters, construction, potholes, college teams, and our variety of cities. In this essay, the genre of Pure Michigan commercials will be analyzed by looking at its characteristics and its strengths and weaknesses as a genre.
Pure Michigan parodies were created to mock the well known commercials of the actual Pure Michigan commercials. The real commercials talked about what there is to love about the state but in reality there are more things to hate about Michigan then love according to these parodies. These parodies have a variety of different characteristics that make this genre different from any other. One characteristic is that background music. The music for these parodies has a sad sound to it and is like that for every commercial. I feel like the sadness of the melody is trying to portray a message that Michigan is a sad place to live. Also when the sad music plays and the narrator begins to talk about the horrible characteristics of the topic for the video it makes it that much more funny to watch. This gets to another characteristic and it is that every parody has a narrator speaking in the background. In the beginning of the video you feel like the narrator is one of those boring monotone voices that will bore you until you cry but instead the narrator has one of those monotone voices that will make you laugh until you cry. There are a lot of different characteristics of these Pure Michigan parodies like that it has to be about Michigan, or that it has to be about a minute and a half long, or that it mus be filmed in Michigan; however, the most important characteristic that makes these parodies unique is the fact that in these parodies the narrator must be making fun of Michigan or a certain part of Michigan. For example, in one parody where the video was about the Detroit Lions he mentions the fact that the Lions are &the worst team ever in professional sports& and that the fans put their kids through the same torture they experienced when watching this team. In another commercial about Michigan State the narrator states that fans hardly pay attention to the sport but instead care more about the drinking and girls that go to attend the games. These characteristics are very important to what makes this video unique.
There are many strengths to how this genre effects its audience. One main strength is that it appeals to the truth, somewhat. When these videos mention Michigan or something about the state it mentions the truth about it and makes it funny. For example, one video called Winter Virgins talks about the extreme winters that Michigan experiences every year. It illustrates that by the time the snow turns to ice, the salt trucks are too late (which is true for at least where I live). Also in one video that talks about Detroit Lion's fans it talks about how the Lions are the worst team in professional sports which is true in a sense because the Lions do have the record for worst regular season record in an NFL season being 0-16 in 2008. These are just a couple of facts that show truth but are put in a hilarious way. Another strength about these videos is that it appeals to a vary narrow audience. This is considered a strength because it if it was seen by people other than Michiganders than they would not understand them. Another strength is the comedy of the videos. The goal of these videos, as stated before, is to spoof the well known Pure Michigan commercials seen on TV. The real videos are pointless and boring so the creators of the spoof made these parodies to give people something to laugh at. For example, throughout one video it describes the potholes in Michigan that the city never fills and it is shown when the setting is taking place on the road and frequently throughout the video the they drive on a pothole. Another example is the video about Mackinaw Island. In this video it shows the beautiful island of Mackinaw and how everybody rides around on bike and horse pulled carriages. Then the narrator mentions the fact that these horses take a crap everywhere and anywhere you can think of. These are just a few examples of how these videos will take something serious and make it funny. There are many strengths to how this genre connects to its audiences but there are also a few weaknesses as well.
There are a few of weak points about the Pure Michigan parodies to show how it does not connect very well to audiences. One main point is the fact that these spoofs make fun of the state of Michigan. Yes for some people that may be funny and enjoyable but for others they find it a mockery to their beloved state. Some of these videos are offensive in some way that will be found as mean and disturbing to some people. For example, in the video regarding Royal Oak, Michigan the narrator regarded the men of Royal Oak as douche bags over and over again. Now that might seem funny to people from cities like Detroit, Troy, and Livonia but to the people of Royal Oak, they find that offensive and are probably not a fan. Other videos like the about Detroit Lions is extremely funny but certain fans would take it the wrong way and get very upset about these videos. Another weakness abut these videos is that they are original but they are the same every time and that can get a little predictable and boring. After watching a few videos you can basically know what to expect. You are going to expect the narrator to talk about the something about Michigan, make fun of it for about a minute, and end the video withe a screen that says &Pure Michigan& and the narrator say &It's Pure Michigan&. The predictability of these videos are a major weakness but not the only one. Another main weakness, which was also considered a strength, is the fact that these videos have a very narrow audience. This is a weakness because once the small audience gets bored and stops watching then there are not many more people that would watch these videos. The spoofs will eventually die out unless they come up with a better idea to connect to a wide range of people. For example, they should expand on the idea of making fun of Michigan and include nearby states like Wisconsin, Illinois, and Ohio. Maybe they can even mention Canada due to how close it is to Michigan. These are just a couple ideas to make these parodies connect more to a bigger audience. Lastly, these videos are too concise and to the point with not enough material to keep its viewers laughing. Like stated before, these videos are predictable and can get kind of boring and after watching the first few you do not get that &laugh out loud& kind of feeling anymore. Instead you would probably get a chuckle out of it then probably just a smirk. However if these videos were longer and added more material to it then that might all change. It might defeat the purpose of it not being a commercial anymore since it would be longer than most commercial but at least it will keep its audience attracted and wanting more. All in all, there are many weaknesses to this genre that can repel an audience away such as its predictability, harshness of material, shortness of material, and the appeal to a smaller audience.
In conclusion, these videos are a great example of a genre that draws an audience in with its specific characteristics and its strengths. However, these videos do have some weaknesses as stated before. Furthermore, these videos appeal to a vary specific audience which can be considered both a strength and a weakness but in any case these spoofs do what they are meant to do and that is mock the state of Michigan and different cities, weather tendencies, sports' teams, and even how the city is treated. I believe the main point of these videos however is not to show us how crappy out state is but to show us how great it really is. I mean it says it in the name itself. We are Pure Michigan.