User:Gearhead4847/sandbox

Autoblopnik is an automotive parody and news satire website launched in 2012. The name is believed to be a portmanteau of Autoblog and Jalopnik, two popular automotive news blogs. Autoblopnik's articles are generally parodies of current events in the automotive world, but also include car reviews and fake ads. The site is heavily influenced by British moting satire cite Sniff Petrol, including fake ads and captions ending with the word "yesterday". The site has a subcategory called Ripping Off Sniff Petrol.

Authorship
The author of the site goes by the psudonym "Otto Blopnik". The true identity of the author(s) is unknown.

Regular features and contributors

 * Fake Ads: Parody car advertisements, usually citing glaring deficiencies in the cars, problems plaguing the automaker, or stereotypes of owners.


 * Bick Skruth: Described as "An experienced author and racer", Bick Skruth writes what are ostensibly car reviews, but mostly talks about how great his driving skills are and how "automotive journalism is dead". Bick Skruth is believed to be a parody of motoring journalist Jack Baruth, and is similar to a Sniff Petrol character called Colby Dousche.

Spin-off web sites
A spin-off web site called Driving On The Right, which posts "Conservative car reviews", is sometimes referenced on Autoblopnik, and is believed to be written by the same person or persons. The site is updated infrequently.

Media coverage
In 2013, an Autoblopnik story about a low-compression diesel engine being developed by Mazda (which contained a technical description of a gasoline engine) was used as a source by The Economist, without citation. The Economist later removed the passage and added a correction. Autoblopnik later ran a fake ad with the phrase "Note to the Economist: This is not a real ad".