History Main / CommercialSwitcheroo

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zugDlPnQ8UM What starts off]] as an ad that appears to be promoting Snuggle laundry detergent ultimately follows up with the bear being chased by a tank to promote VideoGame/BattleTanx.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk_6wRbmwIQ This Ladbrokes commercial]] seemingly advertising shampoo suddenly gets interrupted.
** Same happened during their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3DxKaKX2vQ energy drink commercial]].

** [[https://youtu.be/BDKI7AWsouU This one]] plays out like a scene from a SoapOpera...until the guy tells the woman that he switched to Geico.

** [[https://youtu.be/QxafIhYFOr0 The bunny also rampaged through famous movies as well]] [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity ensued]].

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kqZKLINQZc Another Sears 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.

* A commercial for a vacuum cleaner starts as a classic ProductSwitcherooAd for coffee - but instead of replacing the high end restaurant's coffee with Folger's Crystals it's replaced by sand and ground up clamshells. After everyone tosses their "grounds" on the floor the vacuum comes in and cleans everything up.
* There was once a commercial that started out like a typical pregnancy test commercial. A couple sits on their couch while the wife holds a beaker of fluid. The husband dips a plastic strip in the fluid and they excitedly watch it change color. They have just confirmed...that they have hard water. We then see that the commercial is actually for a hard water treatment.

* An anti-Ecstasy PSA was designed to look like a [[SideEffectsInclude prescription drug ad]], with a person walking through a field of flowers in soft focus while the narrator listed side effects, concluding with "Ask your doctor why Ecstasy is *not* right for you."

* There is a Lifelock internet ad on Wiki/ThisVeryWiki that begins as a banner ad for the comedy movie ''Film/IdentityThief'' (which, interestingly, is a real movie). It then switches to an ad that says "Identity theft in movies: Funny! (In theaters February 8.) Identify theft in real life: not so much."

[[caption-width-right:315:[[VideoGame/{{Splatoon}} You've been invited.]]]]

** The teaser trailer for ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]'' starts off as a replica of the ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' reveal trailer, at the end of a Nintendo Direct that focused on lots of upcoming ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' content. Then everything goes dark, and a familiar logo can be seen reflecting in the female Inkling's eye...

A subtrope to BaitAndSwitch. Similar to TrailerSpoof, but usually without trying to parody any specific real product. Not to be confused with a ProductSwitcherooAd. Can turn into WhatWereTheySellingAgain

** Same happened during their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3DxKaKX2vQ energy drink commercial.]]

* A 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.

* [[https://youtu.be/vVkFT2yjk0A Groupon]] caught some flak for this. Their 2011 UsefulNotes/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.]] (Groupon made donations to the causes mentioned in the advertisements on a per-purchase basis.)

* Hundreds, if not thousands, of bikini clad women run enthusiastically toward a pasty plain guy who is anointing himself in bodyspray; think it's another Lynx/Axe ad? Nope. All the woman immediately stop as soon as he puts on his hideous spectacles... ''[[https://youtu.be/x89xAXHd2l8 "Should've gone to Specsavers"]]''

* A Advertising/{{Progressive}} Insurance commercial even interrupts ''one of their other commercials.''

** But GEICO has done a series of actual played-straight Commercial Switcheroos [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2Ay_HKQrBw that also plug Helzberg Diamonds.]]

** A few other commercials used this formula, appearing with another product usually used with milk, only for a lack of milk to cause some sort of issue. For example, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D5kMBSlWtk the Pillsbury Doughboy]] helps a family make delicious cookies, only for them to turn on him because he put an empty milk carton back in the fridge. There's also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4y7KPE7BSE the invention of the Oreo]] which reveals that it got its name from a Mondegreen of "I don't know" when an employee ran out of milk and had to speak with his mouth full.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdrEKXNa09k A UK advert]] for the Christmas season 2018 shows the very familiar sight of a red lorry decorated with Christmas lights driving along a snowy road ... before the logo on the side is revealed to not be Coca-Cola, but Kevin the Carrot from Aldi's 2017 Christmas campaign.

* Black Rifle Coffee Company made some very strange ads where a guy named Dr. Steve sells weird products with a lot of equally-weird uses, such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjrQTEsalPI "hydration mayonnaise"]] or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49CKgXgse-w caffeinated teeth-whitening fish paste.]] The ads end with a statement saying "This product doesn't actually exist, but Black Rifle Coffee Company does."

** [[https://youtu.be/QxafIhYFOr0 The bunny also rampaged through famous movies as well]] [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity ensued.]]

* Tide aired a series of commercials during Super Bowl LII in which this trope is taken to its logical extreme; the ads present common types of ads seen during the Super Bowl ... except that they're all actually Tide ads, because clean clothes are the sign of one. The end result makes you wonder if everything is a Tide ad, even going as far as to invade an [[Advertising/TheManYourManCouldSmellLike Old Spice ad]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kOA5D6K7Mc Observe.]]

* Back in 2002, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKqZ1Sv4aX0 one]] teaser trailer gave the impression it was for ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'', then it's revealed it was actually for ''Film/ScoobyDoo''.

* [[https://youtu.be/9GwVZwbbhgM "My Little Puppy"]]. It ''seems'' like an [[TastesLikeDiabetes aggressively saccharine]] toy commercial (albeit one for a real dog), but soon reveals itself to be a PSA against treating pets like toys (which includes neglecting it and [[spoiler:"throwing them out", so to speak]]).

** In the episode parodying the advertising business, Graham proceeds to TalkLikeAPirate while feeding fish fingers to the children on his pirate ship. Turns out it's not an add for fish fingers; he's actually kidnapped the children for ransom, as the advertisers have resorted to more direct methods of screwing money from housewives.

* An episode of ''Series/TheGoodies'' features what appears to be [[https://youtu.be/hWL07rRJhj8 commercial demonstrating the fuel efficiency of a car]], up until it crashes into a paper banner reading "20 Miles".
-->'''Announcer''': Robinson's Paper. The ''strong'' one.

-->'''Announcer''': If someone comes in and fouls up your housework, try a Westminister submachine gun!

* A [[https://youtu.be/ukLeyxOA8uk 2022 Super Bowl ad]] starring Creator/AnnaKendrick starts out as a commercial for Toy/{{Barbie}}'s Dream House, but then Kendrick reveals that Barbie found it with the Rocket Homes app, and secured a mortgage with Rocket Morgage in a competitive housing market, with other dolls bidding for it.

** A few other commercials used this formula, appearing with another product usually used with milk, only for a lack of milk to cause some sort of issue. For example, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D5kMBSlWtk the Pillsbury Doughboy]] helps a family make delicious cookies, only for them to turn on him because he put an empty milk carton back in the fridge. There's also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4y7KPE7BSE the invention of the Oreo]] which reveals that it got its name from a {{Mondegreen}} of "I don't know" when an employee ran out of milk and had to speak with his mouth full.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMyNDjfLN0g This one]] starts off like an advert for a toy puppy, but it's really an anti-puppy farm advert.

** Created for a straight commercial ''by a competitor'', no less! Duracell ran a series of commercials in TheEighties in which the Duracell-powered bunny (or other toy or electronic device) was the last man standing out of ten or so[[note]]occasionally only six[[/note]] such toys. Energizer's version was a TakeThat that ''really'' [[WeirdAlEffect caught on]] – so much so that the Duracell bunnies are no longer seen in North America.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gr-IFuxFuk This]] starts out as an advert for a loaf of bread called Vintage Farms Deli Loaf, until the bunny (earing a construction helmet)shows up.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gr-IFuxFuk This]] starts out as an advert for a loaf of bread called Vintage Farms Deli Loaf, until the bunny shows up.

A subtrope to BaitAndSwitch. Similar to TrailerSpoof, but usually without trying to parody any specific real product. Not to be confused with a ProductSwitcherooAd.

* One Smokey Bear PSA begins with a frightened man being chaotically brought into a police station, where he has his fingerprints taken, has his items confiscated, and thrown into a jail cell, despite him pleading that what he did was an accident. Then we find out the man's crime: starting a forest fire.

** Ralston, back when they owned the brand decided to do this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVFtySxhtGs to their own Purina Cat Chow brand of cat food]], doubling as a {{Dualvertisement}}.

** While lost to the void of time, the Bunny also made his way through commercials of some real life products like The Clapper and Purina Cat Chow.

* Sprite frequently pulled this trick during their "Obey Your Thirst" ad campaign, usually by starting out as ads for non-existent, drinks, such as "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsys9hYFewc Jooky]]" and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjK1aUU2Dx4 Sun Fizz]]."