The Fake Grey Poupon Commercial That Was 'Banned' For Being Too Disgusting
It's one of the most successful and enduring advertising campaigns in recent memory. It can be recognized by a simple yet unforgettable phrase: "Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?" If you're not old enough to remember the commercials, they were basically variations on the idea that Grey Poupon brand Dijon mustard was a favored condiment of the upper class, usually featuring one moneyed aristocrat asking another the famous question while the two were side by side in their respective Rolls-Royces. The ads were funny and popular, but if their upper-crust humor is a little sophisticated for you, you might prefer this purportedly "banned" Grey Poupon ad instead.
This 2014 video that some believe is an authentic commercial "banned" from TV was never actually intended to be a real commercial at all. It's just a sketch from the YouTube channel OBVS, short for Online Broadcast Virtual Station, which specializes in such humorous short videos.
Once you watch a few seconds of the video below, you'll get the joke's gist: the word "Poupon" sounds a lot like "poop on." And thanks to the video's title, some viewers seem to think it was an actual Grey Poupon commercial at some point.
The banned commercial wasn't actually banned, nor was it ever a real commercial
We are several lightyears away from the sensibility of the original famous Grey Poupon advertisements (once parodied on "Family Guy" and in the movie "Wayne's World," to name the most famous examples). However, the sketch is still playing on the idea of a commercial catchphrase involving Grey Poupon, so it's in the same basic sphere as the ads and their numerous parodies.
One interesting thing about the video is the fact that many online viewers seem to believe it was an actual commercial cooked up by the Grey Poupon marketing department and then banned from the airwaves. OBVS itself started the notion with the name of the video, and some of the comments underneath seem to be from those who believe it was intended as an actual advertisement. Like @acarmyofone on YouTube, who asked: "This is the best commercial ever. Why didn't they air this?!?!" Another viewer wrote: "Best commercial of all time." One comment wrote that they were surprised the video "actually made it to production," seemingly implying that they think the sketch is a legitimate commercial.
Almost ten years after the video was first dropped on YouTube, people continue to search online for the fabled banned Grey Poupon ad, and there's no telling how many of those searches are from people not aware it was a comedy sketch. But despite its comedic intentions and the disgusting nature of the joke itself, it still has a way of making you crave some Grey Poupon mustard, so perhaps it actually is an effective advertisement after all.