Hello, Hello, Van Gogh Paints Yellow...Parody: The Best Form of Flattery

by Drew Martin



The first time I saw the Macklemore and Ryan Lewis Thrift Shop video on YouTube, I fell out of my chair. I loved the song and liked the duo's independence in the music world. I was once a huge thrift shopper (digging in the same Santa Barbara stores where Katy Perry started her look) so the success of this unlikely topic had me at hello. I also loved the parody responses to the original. There are dozens, if not hundreds. Some are straight-up parodies, and then there is a myriad of imitations with themes which include: Harry Potter Wand Shop, Gift Shop, Pot Shop, Sweatshop, Cheese Shop, Wood Shop, .etc and one on ranching, one about pronouns, as well as one from the UF Pathology lab.

Even the lowest budget attempts have a lot of creative energy in them. Some are as professionally shot and edited as the original. I noticed there was no poke at Photoshop or one about the art world so I decided to throw my hat in the ring. I edited the images and tried to sing it but that wasn't working so I got the track from a brave soul on fiverr.com who advertised "I will attempt to sing or rap along to a song of your choosing with headphones on for $5." In her promotional video, she is trying to sing the original Macklemore Thrift Shop song. I reached out to her and she was game.

Take a look and see if you know all the references. I will post them in the near future.