Gi Joe Psas

2003viral videoclassic

Published August 25, 2026

G.I. Joe PSAs are a set of 25 short video parodies made by Chicago filmmaker Eric Fensler in 2003, redubbing earnest closing bumpers from the 1980s G.I. Joe cartoon with absurd nonsense about porkchop sandwiches and body massages. They spread through eBaum's World and helped define pre-YouTube redub comedy on the early web.

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Overview

The G.I. Joe PSAs are 25 short parody clips made by Chicago filmmaker Eric Fensler under his Fensler Films banner1. Each video takes an original 30 second public service announcement from the mid 1980s G.I. Joe animated series and swaps in new nonsense dialogue over the animation, usually ending with a warped version of the show's famous 'now you know, and knowing is half the battle' tagline3.

Recurring bits include a manic kid yelling about a porkchop sandwich, a stranger offering body massages, and a baffled Joe team trying to explain a computer3. The comedy works because the original bumpers were played completely straight, with a Joe soldier delivering earnest safety lessons to wide eyed children. Fensler kept the animation and pacing intact and only replaced the audio, so the sincere cartoon frames feel warped rather than reshot.

Origin & Background

Platform
Fensler Films (source creation) / eBaum's World (viral spread)
Creator
Eric Fensler
Date
2003

Between 1985 and 1987, the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero animated series ran short public service announcements at the end of each episode, always closing on a Joe soldier reminding kids that knowing was half the battle3. In 2003, Eric Fensler began redubbing those bumpers, starting with a clip about a boy who gets separated from his parents at a carnival3.

Over the run, Fensler produced 25 parodies with new dialogue on topics from porkchop sandwiches to body massages to computers, and initially passed them around on VHS and through his own art gallery and personal websites before they leaked to the wider web3.

How It Spread

eBaum's World began hosting the clips as embedded QuickTime videos in 2003, and by that October the parodies were bouncing around personal blogs3. On September 9, 2004, Hasbro sent a cease and desist letter on copyright grounds, and the videos were pulled from eBaum's World and Fensler's own site, kicking off long arguments on the Animation Nation forum about fair use and cartoon parody2.

After YouTube launched, users reuploaded the parodies freely and Hasbro did not pursue further action3. Fans also started making their own redubs as early as 2004, including a set of six alternate versions by Eric Piotrowski of Garrison Multimedia3. Fensler later put the clips back on his personal site and picked up a New York Times mention in 20083.

In June 2011, Fensler sat for an interview with WFMU's Beware of the Blog and said he never planned to post the videos online, and did not think of himself as an early viral video creator3. By December 2012, searches for 'G.I. Joe PSAs' on YouTube returned more than 2,000 results3, and compilations of the original 25 clips are still easy to find on the platform today1.

How to Use This Meme

The template is simple: take an earnest short form video, keep the original visuals and edit intact, and dub goofy non sequitur dialogue over the mouths1. New Fensler style parodies often close on a mangled version of the 'knowing is half the battle' outro to signal the reference3.

Frequently Asked Questions