More often than not, accusations of joke theft are debatable and the “parallel thinking” argument usually comes into play. But this week, some vigilant Tim and Eric fans noticed a case of theft that’s too obviously ripped off to defend. The perpetrator? Cheez-It.
Here’s the short video ad Cheez-It uploaded to their Facebook page (which has almost 4 million “likes”) earlier this week:
A Cheez-It and a chip together? #mindblown
Posted by Cheez-It on Monday, March 28, 2016
And for reference, here’s Tim and Eric’s popular “mind blown” bit from season 4 of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!:
We asked Tim Heidecker to confirm that Cheez-It never reached out to him, Wareheim, or Adult Swim, and here’s what he told us:
Yea, no ok or compensation from us. A few fans alerted me. Ultimately it’s Adult Swim’s property so it’s up them whether to pursue. Pretty straightforward rip and I hope Turner’s legal department digs into this and helps protect our “intellectual” property!
Aside from this being a pretty obvious, shameless ripoff, the only other explanation I can think of is that it’s some weird early April Fools’ Day joke, but what would be the point of that? In any case, Cheez-It sure has some explaining to do.
UPDATE: Cheez-It has removed the video from its Facebook page.
