“Cajunized” Parody Version of TV Commercial Goes Viral

After you seen all your friends and neighbors flooded, sometimes to forget the horror of it all one just needs a good laugh. I got one Saturday and I'm still laughing. My friend Lon Toncrey - owner of Nic's Bar in Gonzales, Louisiana - passed along a gem.

I was already familiar with the work of YouTube poster CajunNerd. He's done several dubs of Star Trek, Thundercats and old Billy Mays commercials, replacing the original soundtracks with new dialogue in a very thick Cajun accent.  He even uses the vernacular of the Cajuns with French words and phrases like "couillon" (fool), "comme-ca" ("like that"), "como ca va" (how are you) and the like. He even does the confounding use of the word "me" at the end of every sentence in English, a holdover from the French denoting the singular possessive case ( sorry to get all grammar police on you.)

One of the early pioneers of these types of redubs on YouTube was the user known as "Jaboody Dubs" who specialized in re-done versions of Billy Mays and Vince The Shamwow Guy. Clearly, CajunNerd was inspired by those with the presence of a few dubs of commercials from these pitchmen. Soon, he branched off into the Star Trek dubs and made them his own. Or, as a Cajun, I should say he made them "our" own.

Speaking of making it our own, Cajun nerd has surpassed himself on this redub. He's gone totally topical, tying a Phil Swift Flex Seal spot into the events of the Flood of 2016. He's made it an homage to the Cajun Navy,  The volunteer force of Louisiana boat owners first engaged back in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  According to the pitchman renamed "Phil Swifteaux," all it takes is a can of his spray stuff and your truck is a nautical vehicle.

If you're not from Louisiana and not familiar with some of the references or the cadence, this might only see mildly amusing. However, I think it won't be too much of an issue with more and more people of Cajun ethnicity making their home in Texas: there are today more people of Acadian dissent living in Houston then there are in Baton Rouge, much like the number of Jewish and Puerto Rican folks living in New York than there are in Israel and Puerto Rico respectively,  so they're bound to be some Cajun folks around will enjoy this. Besides, funny is funny.  And to paraphrase Eddie Murphy,  I think the stuff's funny, so I'm putting it in. Dig: