Seven parody Twitter accounts we love

Wetherspoon’s sudden departure from social media sparked concerns other companies might follow suit, and so it seemed when a fierce Twitter spat broke out between two colleagues at one organisation which also opted to close its accounts.  

‘Just been called into the office to be told that British Milk Council are shutting down all social channels,’ disgruntled social media manager Jason tweeted. ‘I'm out of a job. Something about misuse of data higher up. F**k that. I've changed the password and they're not having the account back.’

 ‘Jason you're punishing the whole organisation for the mistakes of a few,’ the account tweeted back to itself in response, this time ostensibly from Jason’s boss, Donna. ‘I wasn't in the meeting but we can sort this out amicably away from Twitter. Check your works email.'

 Alas, this was not a unique insight into the workings of the British Milk Council’s communications team. In fact, the British Milk Council does not exist. But with frighteningly realistic logo and name, that is just shy of the real Dairy Council title, you’d be forgiven for doing a double take. Only its bio gives a clue to its spoof status: ‘an official authority promoting the drinkage [sic] of milk through exclusive brand content’.

 Parody accounts have become an increasingly powerful tool in a long tradition of mocking institutions and people in power online, whether it’s the British Milk Council poking fun at brand communications or Half an Onion in a Bag trying to get more followers than US President Donald Trump. Here we pick out seven of our favourites.

1. Douchebag Strategist, @douchebagstrat

We’re used to mind-boggling jargon in the communications industry. It is a regular source of irritation for public relations professionals, who regularly complain about nonsensical phrases in their blogs. Douchebag Strategist is a Twitter bot that taps into that annoying habit of making up phrases, tweeting out a ridiculous combination of words that technically make sense but, realistically, mean absolutely nothing.

Recent tweets include ‘I’m not a strategist, I’m a Donald Trump of digital’ and ‘Integrated marketing has now evolved from hyper-dynamic branded content to real time snackable content’.

Seriously – what does that even mean?!

2. The Daily Mash, @thedailymash

The Daily Mash is Britain’s answer to the American satire site, The Onion. There are some things an American site can quite capture, such as the UK’s shock at experiencing good weather for example. Recent headlines included Do not be afraid of shiny, yellow ball in sky, say experts.

But the headline that really resonates is this: ‘London friend wants to know if you’re free in 10 weeks time.’ That’s some scalding hot tea right there.

3. Elizabeth Windsor, @Queen_UK

Speaking of tea, this Twitter account suggests that the Queen of Great Britain prefers something much stronger of an afternoon - namely gin. This account posts about topical news stories with wry commentary from Her Majesty that we, the public, could only dream of hearing from the dignified and reserved Monarch in real life.

She has posted unflattering comments about politicians (One can confirm that Nick Clegg has been made a Pantomime Dame in the #NewYearsHonours #OhYesHeHas) as well as jokes about Prince Charles shopping for venison (is it too deer? Ho ho ho!) Well worth a follow.

 4. Trump Draws, @TrumpDraws

Last January, President Trump had a habit of signing Executive Orders and then holding them up for the cameras to see. And thus, with a little help from Photoshop, Trump Draws was born.

This account posts gifs of Trump holding up childish drawings, accompanied by childish captions, such as simply ‘kat’ or ‘stormy’ (which shows a stick version of Trump caught in a storm, despite obvious allusions to Stormy Daniels, the woman with whom Trump is accused of having an affair).

It’s all very simple, but hey, it’s fun.

 5. Reductress. @reductress

Like The Daily Mash and The Onion, Reductress is a satire news site but it is aimed entirely at women. It captures perfectly the general complexities of being a modern woman as well as the occasional ridiculous of content aimed at women in itself.

Some of the best headlines include Wow! This Man Who Thinks Women Matter Doesn’t Even Have Daughters and Are You a Millennial, a Gen Xer, or Ageless Karen?.

Me? I’m an Ageless Karen.

6. ADWEAK, @adweak

ADWEAK is a spoof account of American advertising trade publication AdWeek.  ADWEAK tweets out fake headlines about agencies and mocks not only their inner workings, but also the way they are reported on.

For example, a recent tweet poked fun at mergers and acquisitions, as it read: BREAKING: Larger Agency You've Never Heard Of Set To Acquire Smaller Agency You've Never Heard Of.

Another satirised the vaguely suspicious way that agencies identify demand, as it said BREAKING: Agency's Brand Audit Coincidentally Reveals Client Is In Desperate Need Of All Its Services. Coincidence? I think not.

7. Condescending Corporate Brand, @Corporate_Brand

 This one is clever. Its Twitter description says ‘A branded Twitter account that simply tweets from a linked Facebook page with annoying 'fb.me' link at the end chopping off what's said. Point of Twitter missed.’ It points out corporate social media fails by committing a cardinal social media sin of its own. Meta.

 On Facebook, it describes itself as ‘a big Corporate Brand® using Facebook. So look out for us asking you to like and share our stuff in a faintly embarrassing and awkward way’.

It highlights campaigns by brands that are ill-thought out or linked tenuously to a holiday or event. For example, over Easter, it reposted a software company’s Facebook post in which it had superimposed its logo over Jesus’ tomb when wishing people a happy Easter. ‘Jesus would’ve loved our marketing management software...had he lived longer of course,’ Condescending Corporate Brand added.