John Oliver parodied the Facebook apology ad

John Oliver.Getty Images/Bryan Bedder

• Comedian John Oliver roasted Facebook with a parody version of its “Here Together” TV ad.
• The parody plays on Facebook’s issues with misusing data, fake news, and outrageous content.
• It caps a terrible week for Facebook, which lost $120 billion in value after releasing its second-quarter earnings.

Facebook’s terrible week was topped off by a spectacular roasting by John Oliver on Sunday night, after the comedian ripped into its cratering stock price, fake news problem, and its “bulls**t apology ads.”

In a brief segment during his HBO show “Last Week Tonight”, Oliver gleefully pointed to Facebook’s $120 billion valuation drop and pointed out this was bigger than the entire global cheese market. “Facebook’s stock dropped by the concept of cheese,” he said.

Oliver said “public opinion has clearly never been lower” when it comes to Facebook and the company has become a “surveillance system disguised as a high school reunion.”

Oliver capped off his segment with a parody of Facebook’s “Here Together” TV ad, which has been ubiquitous since April after news of the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke.

The parody version of the ad mimics the original visually, with a piano track and soft voiceover narrative playing over seemingly heart-warming pictures and videos on Facebook.

But where the original ad plays up the value of friendship and connecting people, Oliver’s parody relentlessly points out how much money Facebook makes off people’s data, constant surveillance, and outrage.

“You came here for the friends… We came here for your data and the data of everyone you’ve ever come into contact with,” the voiceover says. “Your data enabled us to make a f**k ton of money from corporations, app developers, and political campaigns. Then, we discovered your uncle had ties to the Klan and, guess what, we realised we could make a f**k ton of money off that s**t too.”

The voice points out there are no social networks to rival Facebook and concludes: “Facebook. We own who you are.”

You can watch the full parody ad from “Last Week Tonight” here: