British hardware store Robert Dyas has the quirky viral Christmas hit of the season, and while the theme is oddball indeed—randomly suggesting that straight, gay and bisexual people all love the store and its products—it's actually a pretty straightforward copy of a local Rhett & Link commercial from 2009.
The low-budget Robert Dyas spot, which is closing in on half a million YouTube views since being posted late last week, shows store customers and employees declaring their sexual orientation as they tout particular products. The results are strange—and confusing to many viewers, who can't quite grasp why that should matter when shopping for hardware.
But don't overthink it. The spot is actually a fairly blatant knockoff of the well-known Red House Furniture spot from 2009, created by Internet comics (and part-time weird-ad mavens) Rhett & Link. The difference is, the Red House ad focused on race instead of sexual orientation, saying black people and white people all love the store's furniture. That spot has almost 5.5 million views. Check it out below.
