JibJab Debuts Video Lampooning News Media
Premiered last night at the annual Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner, musical romp features more than 100 broadcast personalities singing about the ridiculous stories of our time – Video Available for Free on JibJab.com and MSNVideo.com
Santa Monica, CA – March 29, 2007 – JibJab, a branded digital comedy network, today released its latest musical satire entitled “What We Call the News.” The original video, set to the classic tune “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” lampoons news outlets for covering absurd and ridiculous stories to the exclusion of hard news in their epic quest for ratings. The free video is now available on JibJab.com and MSNVideo.com.
This latest JibJab production premiered last night at the Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C., an annual gathering of prominent press and government officials, including President George W. Bush. Following the premiere, “What We Call the News” was broadcast on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” marking the ninth JibJab video broadcast on The Tonight Show.
Gregg and Evan Spiridellis, the brothers who founded JibJab, were invited to participate by Brian Wilson, Chairman for this year’s Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner and Washington Bureau Chief for Fox News.
“We were incredibly honored to premiere our latest JibJab video at the Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner,” said Gregg and Evan Spiridellis. “It’s a terrific event with a long history of prestigious attendees and hilarious entertainers, and we’re eternally grateful for the opportunity.”
“What We Call the News” features a number of well-known news media personalities including Bill O’Reilly, Larry King, Geraldo Rivera and Anderson Cooper, as well as celebrities such as Britney Spears, Anna Nicole Smith and others. The two minute musical romp also includes the faces of more than 100 JibJab fans who emailed pictures to the company for a chance to be in the video.
“What We Call the News” is the last in a series of five JibJab videos to appear exclusively beyond JibJab.com on MSN Video. The prior four videos have generated more than 27 million online viewings.
“JibJab is an innovator among this new breed of creative production studios,” said Rob Bennett, general manager of Entertainment and Video Services at MSN. “We enjoyed working with them and offering JibJab’s consistently fun and entertaining viral videos to our audience.”
For the past seven years JibJab has been at the forefront of creating, producing and distributing the best original comedy programming for digital channels. As traditional media tries to adapt, JibJab is the trailblazing brand in made-for-the-medium entertainment.
The release of “What We Call the News” follows the studio’s 2006 year-in-review video recap entitled “Nuckin’ Futs.” Set to the tune of Jingle Bells, “Nuckin’ Futs” features elementary school children singing about pop icons such as Britney Spears, Mel Gibson and Lance Bass, as well as domestic and international political figures such as Dick Cheney, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and Saddam Hussein. The piece also premiered on the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and is still available for free on MSNVideo.com and JibJab.com.
About JibJab Media
JibJab is a branded digital comedy network founded by brothers Gregg and Evan Spiridellis in 1999. The company achieved international fame in 2004 with its political parodies, “This Land” and “Good to be in DC!,” which were seen more than 80 million times on every continent (including Antarctica). NASA even contacted the brothers for a copy of “This Land” to send to the International Space Station! JibJab has grown considerably since the last election. Today, the company is comprised of the best and the brightest artists, technologists and business people working hard to change the way comedy is created, produced, distributed and monetized – all with fewer employees than at the cafeteria of your local mega-media conglomerate. Please send coffee. For more information go to http://www.jibjab.com/about/.
JibJab is a registered trademark of JibJab Media Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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