We’re always been fascinated (and often disturbed) by the relationship between entertainment and advertising, so it was with great interest that we read AdAge’s new Entertainment A-List. The picks for 2011 ranged from obvious all-star entertainment brands — Glee, The King’s Speech — to darker horses, like the company that signed Whoopi Goldberg up to be the spokeswoman for “light bladder leakage.” Check out AdAge’s top ten most influential brands in the biz after the jump, read about them in-depth on the magazine’s website, and tell us whether you agree in the comments.
Thanks to Funny or Die, “Successful Alcoholics,” a dark comedic short that was well-received at both Sundance and South by Southwest, is finally online. TJ Miller (who you might remember as the dude who did that hilarious live-action Yogi Bear audition tape) and Lizzy Caplan play a co-dependent couple who is “young, successful, in love, and constantly shitfaced.” (An interesting bit of trivia: these two previously shared the screen in JJ Abrams’ Cloverfield.) The lovely Tony Hale has a small role as well. If you’ve got 25 minutes or so to spare (come on, it’s Friday afternoon), click through to check it out now, but be warned: it’s kind of heartbreaking.
However fun it may be to shrilly shout “APRIL FOOLS!” as many times as possible today, our favorite part of this holiday will always be the onslaught of clever jokes the internet delivers us. Although some lame sites aren’t participating in the irreverent fun (talk to the hand, nytimes.com!), this year’s turning out to be one of our favorites. In the grand tradition of sharing the laughs, we’ve rounded up the best jokes the internet has to offer for the occasion and given them completely arbitrary, made-up awards after the jump. Be sure to link us to your picks in the comments.
If Will Ferrell decided to publish a book, what kind of book would it be? That’s what we’re asking ourselves in the wake of news that Funny or Die, the humor website founded by comedians Will Ferrell and Adam McKay back in 2007, plans to launch a book publishing imprint called Funny or Die Books. While the brand’s recent expansions into the worlds of film (Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie) and TV (Funny or Die Presents) make perfect sense to us, this one has us scratching our heads. Why get into the game now, when so many established publishers are downsizing, or bailing out completely? “Well, we like books, and we like reading,” Mike Farah, Funny or Die’s president of production told Vulture. “And we’re fortunate enough to be able to expand from the engine that is currently driving us. We felt like this would be a fun and logical space to get into. But we’re going to take it slowly, learning as we go.” The imprint’s first project, an e-book written by humorist Mike Sacks and the Pleasure Syndicate (Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk) will debut in July; there’s no word yet on when we can expect the book version of Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis (which, for the record, we’d totally buy).
Well, it’s official: Skins is the most controversial TV show in recent memory. So many companies have pulled ads from the show in response to a campaign by the Parents Television Council that it’s hard to keep track of them. But it looks like the backlash against the backlash is on its way. Clearasil has said it has no plans to take its spots off Skins. And now, the folks at Funny or Die have made a great video of teenagers thanking the PTC — for alerting them that there is super-hot porn on MTV. We would like to join the youth of America in gratitude to the PTC for inventing a new Skins drinking game. But we still kind of prefer ours.
Say what you will about Ke$ha — at least she knows she’s funny. If you were ever in doubt about that, you need only watch the Funny or Die video below, in which the scuzzy pop star re-enacts that scene in Disney’s Cinderella where all the birds and mice dress the princess-to-be for the ball. Except in this version, the rodents look like pimps and swig Jack Daniels, Ke$ha sings about picking a wedgie, and the fairy godmother is some homeless dude in a dress and cape. The only unintended side effect? The clip also confirms just how easy it is to write a Ke$ha hit.
Prepare to feel old: Ralph Macchio is 48 years old. Glad we got that out of the way. So, there are several reasons to watch the trailer for Wax On, F*ck Off, a faux documentary about Macchio’s attempt to stop being so happy and revive his career by becoming a Hollywood bad boy. There’s a cameo by Molly Ringwald that reminds us why we used to love her so much. A cocaine smiley face. Macchio does the infamous “Crane Kick” in a bar, and says things like, “Bonsai, motherfucker.” It’s the best Funny or Die clip we’ve seen in a while, and it actually gets funnier as it goes along. While we have absolutely no interest in seeing the remake, we’d pay for this movie — but that might be our late ’80s obsession with Daniel LaRusso talking.
We love a good mystery. We do not love Ed Hardy, patron label of Jon Gosselins everywhere. In The Ed Hardy Boyz: The Case of the Missing Sick Belt Buckle, which first hit Funny or Die last fall, Hardy-clad Bobby Bottleservice (Nick Kroll) and Peter Paparazzo (Jon Daly, who looks exactly like Project Runway Season 3 winner Jeffrey Sebelia) speak in monotone, misuse the word introvert, and search for a stolen belt buckle at the behest of Ed Hardy founder, Christian Audigier. If you’re a fan of gumshoes and The Jersey Shore, then peep the video after the jump.
Everyone keeps talking about how the current season of Mad Men is a slow burner. Consider Ma Men a hilarious antidote. We think former-New Kid Joey McIntyre as Rogah (that’s Roger, for non-Bostonites) is wicked pissah, but can he top John Slattery? Side note: We wish the entire band had gotten involved. Donnie Wahlberg would make an excellent Don Draper…
The second season of Flight of the Conchords premiered yesterday on Funnyordie.com. If you haven’t seen it yet and you’re anything like us, you’re only wondering one thing — is it worth trying to secretly watch this at work without getting caught by my boss? Ah, if only we could just crawl under our desk like George Costanza…
After the jump, we let the “early reviews” speak for themselves with the myriad complaints from the International users — including some really angry people in New Zealand — who couldn’t access the sneak peek weeded out. Their overall consensus in case you’re feeling lazy: higher production values = fewer laughs.
