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Re:Breaking Free by nkurz on Friday February 27, 2026 @08:47PM (#47188956)
I was bothered that it seemed to be an extremely direct copy of this 2008 German commercial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mTLO2F_ERY

It took the same scenes, but in keeping with the theme, made them slightly worse.

If they didn't acknowledge this somewhere, they should be called out on it.

Re:Breaking Free by nyoronic on Friday February 27, 2026 @10:41PM (#47190009)
I'm not sure I see it to be honest? Yes, they are both guys that bother others, but their motives are different.

"Mr. W" is a personification of the wind that can't help his existence flinging things, but finds a new purpose.

The "Enshittificator" is a person modifying consumer products more directly, and it ends badly, but he's happy about it.

Going in I was expecting scene-for-scene similarities, but it wasn't that close.

Re:Breaking Free by nkurz on Saturday February 28, 2026 @07:36AM (#47194581)
Perhaps not, but that was my feeling on watching the Norwegian version, although to be fair, I was bothered enough that I only watched the first half.

Defending my opinion, though, I felt that both had tall somewhat socially awkward men dressed in oddly formal manners giving monologues to the camera. Scenewise, I thought slamming the drawer was a direct echo of slamming the shutters. And kicking the rock in the street echoed throwing the bottles in the street. And so forth.

Interesting that you don't think it's a knockoff. Given the theme, I found it ironic that it was itself an inferior copy. It ruined it for me.

Re:Breaking Free by fastasucan on Saturday February 28, 2026 @02:52PM (#47199460)
> I felt that both had tall somewhat socially awkward men

Northern europeans cast northern europeans in commercials you say?