Cases where a satire has really succeeded?

[Rube E. Tewesday]

What I'm thinking of is this:

After watching the South Park where it's revealed that Family Guy is written by manatees (I can't believe spoiler tags are needed for this at this point), my wife and I can't watch one of Family Guy's digressions without shaking our heads and going "Manatees".

Do you have similar instances where a satire has really changed the way you view the object of the satire?

[OneCentStamp]

After Shrek came out in the movie theaters, I was forever unable to think of, or picture Michael Eisner without thinking of Lord Farquaad. I remember seeing an interview with him and being mildly surprised that he didn't talk like John Lithgow.

[Seattle Slow]

I can't say it personally affected me (since I wasn't around for it), but arguably the most effective satirical campaign in history was Thomas Nast's relentless political cartooning against Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Nas ... Tweed_Ring

[EthelMercaptan]

Dana Carvey's impression of George H.W. Bush painted him as an ineffectual buffoon and was a staple of SNL nearly every week, and cemented the phrases "Thousand points o' light" and "Read my lips" into the public memory, not to mention "Not gonnnn' do it. Wouldn't be prudent" which I don't think Bush ever actually said.

Looking back, it's amazing how bitingly ridiculous he portrayed the character. It would have been over-the-top even if he'd been impersonating Bush 43, let alone his comparatively staid and dignified father.

[Ferret Herder]

Oh, thanks for jogging my memory, EthelMercaptan. I recall seeing something on TV about how former Pres. Gerald Ford was seen pretty much as the athlete that he was (star college football player, great golfer) until Chevy Chase's lampooning of some stumbles of his, and he got the reputation of being a fumbling buffoon. Turns out Chase claims he made fun of Ford on purpose because he preferred Carter.