The Slap Chop rap remix: Coming to a TV screen near you

In a move that can be described only as sheer brilliance, the creators of the Slap Chop infomercial have embraced the rap remix floating around on the Interwebz and are releasing it as an actual standalone infomercial.

Now, some might note that the embedded video is a bit different than the original DJ Steve Porter created, but his had clips from the 1984 classic movie, "Breakin'" and Porter noted on Twitter today that they had to replace those clips with stock breakdancer footage to avoid licensing/copyright issues.


As a child of the 1980s, I must say I regret the change had to be made, but the break dancing bunny in Times Square almost made up for that.

But back to the brilliance -- too many companies freak out when their intellectual property (I am fully aware of how ridiculous it is to use the phrase "intellectual property" when referring to an infomercial) is appropriated on the Internet and made into something even better. All they can see are the copyright issues.

But Square One Entertainment appears to have realized it's better to work with the Internet instead of against it, and Porter's dance remix of Vince extolling the virtues of the Slap Chop is set to be a new commercial.

The most recent example of copyright protection fail came, appropriately enough, via the FailBlog this week, when Guinness tried to bully the blog into not pointing out how big of a fail they'd made when suggesting people might want to break the world record for "Most individuals killed in a terrorist attack." Really.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must confess I am a huge fan of the infomercial. And by "the infomercial," I mean infomercials as a genre, and not just the Slap Chop's. They are a true piece of Americana -- advertising as entertainment. I very rarely see commercials anymore, as I record virtually everything I watch on DVR and skip 'em. But a good infomercial? There's something about them that just sucks me in.

So, keep your eye out for the Slap Chop Rap Remix and clear off your living room floor in case you feel like bustin' a move while watching. And then head over to College Humor to check out its spoof of Vince in prison or find out how you can make your own Slap Chop dance remix video.