The infomercial is a pretty spoofable concept and seems to be in fashion right now. This summer, ESPN used uber-pitchman Billy Mays (recently deceased), who in essence spoofs himself in this spot:

 

With the start of football season, the Bud Light Grooler was foisted upon us:

And now, here comes the Subaru Outback, with Outback Detergent:

A brand extension that makes sense

These are all reasonably clever executions, with the last two doubling as not only infomercial spoofs, but also product extension spoofs. There is no Grooler or Outback Detergent, it would be ridiculous for those brands to go off in a direction like that. It would be as crazy as P&G’s Mr. Clean fronting a car wash.

Hmmm, not so crazy actually. In fact, it makes a lot of sense. Mr. Clean has incredible brand awareness and brand equity. I really like this move because not only does it make strategic sense, but it’s a completely uncluttered area. I’m not aware of a national car wash chain, and certainly not one based on an existing brand from another category.

The Subara Outback is a good brand and rather than grabbing an easy laugh, I’d love to see them do something truly innovative. Surely they are some creative Content Marketing opportunities to explore. I’m sure they could find a particularly compelling consumer insight, something like 73% of Outback owners also own a dog, that could have led to an interesting, asymmetrical brand partnership opportunity. Would Outback dog food work? Maybe not, but wouldn’t it be far more interesting to try something like that rather than just make a funny marketing campaign?