The Power of the Parody

So initially I wanted to create a blog to focus on the eMarketing tactics of various companies around the world. Those that worked, and those that really didn't.
While starting to do some research on viral marketing and the use of YouTube by corporates i started to think about the phenomenon it has created... the parody video.

Traditionally companies have hated the parody videos of various marketing campaigns as it oftens shows the company in a negative light. However, should a company be so quick to judge? Should  negative view of a campaign automatically result in a cease and desist?

According to Coles ... yes.
After the release of the mega annoying (yet somewhat successful) 'prices are down' campaign a variety of parody videos began to pop up on YouTube. The majority were of young children singing the song in stores. However, one in particular caused quite a controversey.... the 'up yours independent stores' parody became a huge hit online. It didn't take long before Wesfarmers were citing copyright breaches and the parody was yanked from YouTube, as discussed on the Gruen Transfer last week.
Naturally, a parody gone viral never stays off YouTube for long;



Is this fair? Is it really up to a company to dictate what parodies can and cannot be shown in the free media?
From a legal aspect, yes. But if a company wants to 'protect intellectual property' shouldn't they do it for all parody videos? Lets face it the two year old sitting in the trolley is breaking copyright laws too.

In my opinion, the fact that Coles had certain parodies and video responses pulled from social media has created more bad publicity for the company than the videos in the first place.

People enjoy their right to create a parody. Threatening that right can only cause a problem.

What do you think? Is stopping a parody video reducing brand damage? Or causing it?