# Gi Joe Psas 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. ## Overview The G.I. Joe PSAs are 25 short parody clips made by Chicago filmmaker Eric Fensler under his Fensler Films banner[1]. 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' tagline[3]. 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 computer[3]. 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. ## 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 blogs[3]. 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 parody[2]. After YouTube launched, users reuploaded the parodies freely and Hasbro did not pursue further action[3]. Fans also started making their own redubs as early as 2004, including a set of six alternate versions by Eric Piotrowski of Garrison Multimedia[3]. Fensler later put the clips back on his personal site and picked up a New York Times mention in 2008[3]. 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 creator[3]. By December 2012, searches for 'G.I. Joe PSAs' on YouTube returned more than 2,000 results[3], and compilations of the original 25 clips are still easy to find on the platform today[1]. ## How to Use 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 mouths[1]. New Fensler style parodies often close on a mangled version of the 'knowing is half the battle' outro to signal the reference[3]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Gi Joe Psas? Gi Joe Psas refers to a set of 25 short parody videos by filmmaker Eric Fensler that redub the earnest closing PSAs from the 1980s G.I. Joe cartoon with absurd new dialogue[3]. ### Where did Gi Joe Psas come from? Chicago filmmaker Eric Fensler started making them in 2003 under his Fensler Films banner, and eBaum's World spread them across the early web that same year[3]. ### What does Gi Joe Psas mean? The name is shorthand for Fensler's parody series, which reuses the show's public service announcement format and its 'now you know, and knowing is half the battle' outro as the joke's setup[1]. ### How do you use Gi Joe Psas? People share the clips as reaction fodder and quote the bits about porkchop sandwiches, body massages and computers, or make their own redubs of straight faced short videos in the same style[3]. ### Is Gi Joe Psas still popular? The parodies are treated as a classic of early web video, with reuploaded compilations of Fensler's 25 clips still easy to find on YouTube[1] and long running discussion of the 2004 Hasbro cease and desist on early animation forums[2]. ## References 1. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww3GTNv9hHk]() 2. [https://www.animationnation.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=print_topic;f=1;t=009180]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/gi-joe-psa-parodies]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/gi-joe-psas Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library