It’s Emmy season! Or, more specifically, Emmy nomination season. The ballots went out on June 9, and by the 20th, the TV Academy will place their votes for the 2014 Emmys. It’s a tough decision — even tougher than usual this year, with so many fantastic programs to choose from — and networks are pulling out all the stunts when it comes to For Your Consideration advertisements. Here’s are the funniest billboards, the oddest stunts, and the most passive-aggressive mailers.
Unsurprisingly, Comedy Central has the funniest For Your Consideration ads so far, with Key & Peele and Broad City each sticking to its established brand of humor.
Inside Amy Schumer goes the trailer route with this hilariously intense and star-studded ad.
Also unsurprisingly, Fox’s Family Guy tries and fails to be funny with this boring reference to a Chris Christie scandal.
AMC’s The Walking Dead‘s campaign focuses on the human aspect of the show, instead of just the zombies. It’s a way of saying that The Walking Dead isn’t solely a genre show but more of a character-driven drama. I’m not buying it, but maybe voters will. [via THR]
AMC’s other drama, Mad Men, launched a stylish, vintage-style campaign that’s very much in tune with the show’s advertising slant. You can view all of the ads here.
HBO went simplistic with its campaign, opting for a “one word says it all” approach. Keeping with the spirit of the network, it’s clever and a little boastful. HBO knows that it doesn’t need to go all-out with ads when its shows speak for themselves. You can view the billboards for rest of the shows here.
Showtime’s Shameless pokes fun at itself, and its controversial (and slightly baffling) category switch from drama to comedy this year. These bus ads rolled out a few weeks ago.
Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine will almost certainly receive a nomination, but just to up its chances, the show recently rolled out a food truck that handed out free coffee and donuts (because it’s a show about cops!) around Los Angeles. [via Nerdist]
Somewhat similar to the HBO lineup, AMC’s Breaking Bad doesn’t have much to say on its billboards, but it has a point: The final episodes were unforgettable, and we’re still talking about them.
CBS’s The Good Wife‘s goes a bit catty with this mailer that attacks cable dramas like True Detective and Mad Men for not putting out nearly as many episodes.