History Main / CommercialSwitcheroo

* There was a commercial for a new sitcom called "Zombie Dad" on Space. It actually looked pretty fun, until it ended up being a network ad for Space saying you don't have to watch such awful shows.

* The first teaser for ''Film/TheMuppets'' started out as an ad for a romantic comedy, until the time came for the announcer to read a list of cast members, and the inclusion of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy elicited surprise in the announcer and the male lead.

* A commercial from summer 2002 invites people to "take a spin with this summer's newest action hero" in Franchise/{{Spider-Man}} font while DannyElfman like music plays. then it abruptly cuts to [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]] igniting his lightsaber.

* Sprite frequently pulled this trick during their "Obey Your Thirst" ad campaign, usually by starting out as ads for non-existent, "hip" drinks, such as "Jooky".
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsys9hYFewc Jooky! Jooky! It's a party in a CAHN!]]

* ''Webcomic/StatisticalFact'' parodies [=PSAs=] that try to incorporate popular culture to drive home a point. [[http://statisticalfact.com/sf/singing-in-the-rain-psa/ This comic]] features the unlikely pairing of ''Film/SinginInTheRain'' and the dangers of imitating movie stunts.

* ''Webcomic/StatisticalFact'' parodies Public Service Announcements that try to incorporate popular culture to drive home a point. [[http://statisticalfact.com/sf/singing-in-the-rain-psa/ This comic]] features the unlikely pairing of ''Film/SinginInTheRain'' and the dangers of imitating movie stunts.

* Used with a ''real product'' in one commercial for car manufacturer Subaru, where actual footage from an ad for Snuggies (overpriced coat-shaped blankets) was cut off by a guy with an axe [[BreakingTheFourthWall chopping through the TV screen]] and revealing an SUV... The kicker is that the actual snuggie commercial played around the same time.

* [[http://www.groupon.com Groupon]] caught some flak for this; Their 2011 SuperBowl ad started out like an ad for a charity to help out Tibet... then switched gears to talk about how the announcer got 50% Tibetan food thanks to Groupon. Many thought this was in bad taste, [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity which made it the most talked about ad that year.]]

* A K-Mart radio commercial starts out with various people talking about being reluctant to go out due to having a "gas problem", obviously making the listener expect it to be for some sort of drug that prevents flatulence. Instead, it's advertising a promotion where customers can save on gasoline by shopping.
* A Sears appliance commercial begins with a scantily-clad couple getting intimate on the beach and then doing a romantic MeadowRun across the sand, making it look like a trailer for a ChickFlick or some sort of PerfumeCommercial...until they crash into a bunch of refrigerators.

* ''DirectTV''. It starts out with a clip of an interesting movie, then a movie fan briefly interacts with the characters. The idea is that with Direct TV the viewer has much more control over when and where things start. Sadly, the interesting movies are not real.

* AMC Theatres had a series of PSAs that start out as a trailer for a movie, such as a romance film and a {{Disney}}-esque animated movie. All of a sudden it gets interrupted by a cell phone ringer, and the characters complain about the noise.
* A series of home safety PSAs in New Zealand began as a commercial for something else (fruit snack bars, house paint, a shower system, home loans) and end with someone having a horrific accident because they didn't take simple precautions (e.g. the guy in the paint commercial falls off his ladder and is presumably killed because he didn't secure the ladder properly.)

[[AC:Internet]]
* A commercial in 1999 seemingly advertised an [[StylisticSuck incredibly terrible-looking]] movie called "Blow'd Up". We then cut to a horrified man watching this on television, going on E*Trade, and selling all of his shares of stock in the studio.

[[AC:Banking]]
* VISA filmed several ads for real vacation resorts, which mentioned at the end that you should bring your VISA card, since the place doesn't accept American Express.
** The irony is that most of the hotels featured, when asked by an independent survey, revealed that most of them either had never stopped offering American Express, or had done so (briefly) in favor of VISA, but quietly started taking American Express again afterward.

[[AC:Insurance]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdyLiTvEFPo Nationwide Insurance]] featured a SuperBowl commercial which, at first glance, appeared to sell a cologne endorsed by every housewife's fantasy, Fabio. Basically, he's rowing a gondola with a woman in it as this ad extols the virtue of his cologne. Then, he passes under a bridge, and ''bam''! He becomes old and disheveled, and we learn that "life comes at you fast".
* A Progressive Insurance commercial even interrupts ''one of their other commercials.''
* Other examples are rare, but there is good news. I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by {{switching to GEICO}}!
** GEICO ran a fake-trailer for a reality show called "Tiny House" before revealing itself as a GEICO ad. The trailer was well done, and real reality show premises can be just as stupid, so it was quite convincing.
** In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRH15i-1K38 this one]] where Tony Little is selling a glider exercise machine but his "good news" for the audience is said irrelevant news.
* There is a Lifelock internet ad on ThisVeryWiki that begins as a banner ad for the comedy movie ''Identity Thief'' (which, interestingly, is a real movie). It then switches to an ad that says "Identity theft in movies: Funny! (In theaters Feburary 8.) Identify theft in real life: not so much."
** Ironically, now there are real ads for ''Identity Thief'' that don't switch into ads for Lifelock.

** And let's not forget [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRH15i-1K38 this one]] where Tony Little is selling a glider exercise machine but his "good news" for the audience is said irrelevant news.

** And let's not forget [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRH15i-1K38 this one]]

* Five words: Car, meadow... [[JumpScare ZOMBIE!!]] K-Fee Coffee.

* Happens in recent Australian ads for lamb: one was a trope-laden ad for perfume, and another an ad for a really cheesy romantic comedy. Except that they're ads for lamb (or, rather LÂMB, "the fragrance for spring", and ''Falling in Lamb'')

* A recent series of Tesco Mobile ads in the UK centered around a group of people wishing for "a world where strangers... become friends" etc, before cutting to a simple person on a white background asking simply for a cheap monthly rate with a free phone.

** Created for a straight commercial ''by a competitor'', no less! Duracell ran a series of commercials in TheEighties in which the Duracell-powered bunny was the last man standing out of ten or so such toys. Energizer's version was a TakeThat that ''really'' [[WeirdAlEffect caught on]].

* Used with a ''real product'' in one car commercial, where actual footage from an ad for Snuggies (overpriced coat-shaped blankets) was cut off by a guy with an axe [[BreakingTheFourthWall chopping through the TV screen]] and revealing an SUV... The kicker is that the actual snuggie commercial played around the same time.

* Old Spice Body Spray is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxnSBEkk3Ms too powerful to stay in its own commercial!]]