Overcomplicated instructions
What is the Overcomplicated instructions trend?
A snippet of a viral sketch where a fake board game's rules get explained with total deadpan seriousness, "only on your fourth round can you collect two tokens, once you've collected your two tokens then you can apply for immunity." Reach for it any time you want to compare a real process's nonsensical, arbitrary steps to the made-up bureaucracy of a board game nobody actually understands.
Origin
The audio comes from a longer sketch built around a fictional board game whose rules escalate into total absurdity, tokens that unlock immunity, prerequisite moves, point skips, all delivered as if it's completely normal. It caught on because so many real-life processes, rewards programs, check-in instructions, return policies, actually work the same way, arbitrary steps you have to complete in a specific order before you're allowed to do the thing you actually wanted to do. Pairing the clip with a real process that feels just as arbitrarily gatekept is the entire joke.
Great for
- A multi-step process the brand's own customers find confusing, redeeming a code, unlocking a rewards tier, a subscription cancellation flow
- A real-world process outside the brand that's famously overcomplicated, like navigating a rental or travel check-in
- A loyalty or points program with rules that sound made up even though they're real
- Any onboarding or signup flow with more steps than it needs
Examples
- How it feels to check into a European Airbnb
- How it feels to redeem a Groupon at the actual restaurant
- How it feels to understand your own rewards points tier system
Turn a trend into an on-brand short from footage you already have.
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