A successful parody tricks the audience but then lets them in on the trick, like a clever inside joke shared between writer/designer and reader.

Be sure to get approval from your instructor once you’ve selected a topic. There’s a thin line separating parody from hostility (and, for some topics, potential legal or campus regulatory consequences).

Look at existing ads for different products and figure out how those ads work on viewers. Then think about how you might flip the message of one of the ads on its head in some way: challenge the ad’s claims, take its message to an extreme, show the reality of the situation.

Put the product (or a related activity such as consuming or using the product) in another context to expose problems. For example, show a traditional family holiday dinner with fast food rather than expected holiday food. Or create a cellphone ad that touts the unlimited texting plan by showing a nurse in an operating room sending texts (but ignoring the patient).

Humor is sometimes difficult to analyze, but tension is an important aspect: A situation in some way creates or reminds the viewer of an uneasy situation, which the humor then releases. Note the way the example ad in the Background Text section invokes and then releases tension: The image of Ronald McDonald silenced with a gag labeled “Grease” sets up a juxtaposition that makes us laugh (despite the serious message about health and obesity).