Followfood Parodies Germany's 'Best Network' Telco Ads
Updated: 6 days ago
Sustainable-food brand Followfood has parodied Germany's never-ending telecoms 'best network' advertising war, flipping 'No signal' into a positive to promote sustainable fishing in a sharp, category-jumping campaign.
What Followfood did
Followfood, the sustainable-food brand formerly known as followfish, has hijacked the visual language of Germany's telecoms ad war between Telekom, Vodafone and 1&1. Where the carriers obsess over network coverage, Followfood turns the idea on its head with a 'No signal? Great!' message.
The joke celebrates being off-grid out at sea in the service of sustainable fishing, borrowing one of the most over-exposed ad formats in Germany and bending it to a cause.
Why borrowing a rival category's codes works
The telecom 'best network' ads are everywhere and instantly recognisable, which is exactly what makes them worth parodying. A smaller brand gets borrowed fame and a smile for a fraction of a category-leader's budget.
Followfood has form here, with a history of provocative sustainability stunts, so the move fits a brand that competes on wit and point of view rather than spend.
The Marketing Minute read
The creative principle is cultural borrowing: take a code everyone already knows and subvert it to carry your message. Done well, it punches far above its media weight.
Our take: small brands win attention by being culturally fluent, not by outspending. The one risk is that the parody must land on your message, not just the thing you are spoofing, or people remember the telco, not the fish.
Quick FAQ
What is Followfood's campaign about?
Promoting sustainable fishing by parodying Germany's telecoms 'best network' ads, reframing 'no signal' as a good thing.
Why parody telco ads?
They are everywhere and instantly recognisable in Germany, so subverting them earns borrowed attention for a smaller brand.
Does cultural hijacking work?
When the parody clearly serves the brand's own message it can deliver outsized attention on a modest budget; when it does not, people just remember the thing being parodied.
This is how a small brand out-thinks a big budget. Followfood borrowed the most over-exposed ad format in Germany and bent it to its own message. The trick is making sure people walk away talking about your point, not just the joke, and here 'no signal, great' lands squarely on sustainability. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Smaller brands do not beat bigger budgets by shouting louder, they win by being culturally fluent, borrowing codes everyone already knows and bending them to their own message.
What over-familiar code in your category could you flip on its head to make people actually notice you?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: HORIZONT.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
