A fan-created parody video telling “Gamestop employees” how to treat female customers is so awkward and hilarious that it almost seems like the sort of training video a giant corporation might actually release.
On the one hand, the tongue-in-cheek style of the parody is obvious: “Ima Smartone,” the instructor, has an English accent that sounds so painfully fake it’s almost impressive. The whole thing is done in a Crocodile Hunter / Animal Planet style, further adding to the absurdity.
On the other hand, despite always being just one step shy of horribly offensive – referring to different types of female customers as “hunters” and “gatherers,” for instance – it somehow feels … oddly plausible. We live in a world where corporate executives greenlighted the SongSmith commercial, after all: Maybe I’m a cynic, but I can see this actually passing muster at some companies.
Or maybe it’s the fact that in the few months I worked at a Gamestop during my college years, I saw conversations between employees and customers that were eerily like the ones in this video.
I guess the moral to take away from all of this is that you should never underestimate peoples’ capacity for stupidity.
Published: Feb 25, 2009 04:18 pm