Brand reputation e parodia: strategie di subvertising nel social web

Many of the so called “viral contents” spreading in the social web undeniably deal with a rethoric of irony and parody. The popularity of texts is deeply related to the ability of drawing upon different yet interconnectd practices regarding inter-semiotic translation, intertextuality, transmediality while fostering audiences' playful engagement. A very interesting yet disregarded phenomenon concerns the political use of such tactics of resemantization of pre-existing contents, with some of the most effective protests regarding the ability of non governmental organizations in causing distress to renowed brands. The article focuses on the evolution of subervertising tactics in the social web domain where parody and remix are largely used to denounce the lack of credibility of international firms. An exemplary case is the Greenpeace's campaign “Everything is NOT awesome” against the contract between Lego and Shell, a very popular and effective protest whose effectiveness is based on the ability to overturn the brand values distorting and remixing copyrighted materials.