Jan.2, 2010 My head is still spinning (no, not from ‘The Hangover’ post)…
My brain is simply trying to catch up with my eyeballs in this frenetic musical media montage which salutes the past year in PG-13ish ‘Where’s Waldo-style.’
Reminiscent of Dan Meth’s ‘Internet People’ viral video from awhile back (Dan has several new mashups beyond the stoic squirrel, spoofing toys from childhood like “Care Bears vs. My Little Pony, the Reckoning” that will get a ‘lol’ text comin’ your way no doubt) this new JibJab ditty tosses in headline news, political fallouts and a trend-trashy-tour that half explains ‘why things are the way they are’ at a glance.
JibJab’s carved its place in the political sphere from way back, but their personalized digital sendables have skyrocketed far beyond the Elf Yourself campaign which ViralBlog reports already chalked up 284 million visits since its launch in 2006 BEFORE this season’s iteration went live.
In fact, when this year’s Elf Yourself/NYC flash mob of human elves showed up to add some extra umpf to the launch, it reminded me how much media has morphed between online to offline ‘social happenings’ with entertainment crossing over between real and digital worlds. (Same with the youth flash mob in Rome of Glee gone global right before Christmas; what a hoot!)
Much like the Obamicon fad packed a political punch in social media channels turning Shepard Fairey’s social commentary/art into a bit of a verb (he’s been “manufacturing quality dissent” for decades) people mumbled about “where JibJab would go” after all the election fodder…(remember the JibJab originals like ‘This Land is Your Land’ from way back when? I got a kick out of reading the brothers’ background…how JibJab began with two, expanded to 35; the dotcom crash, where they are now, etc.)
Well, no worries there…
JibJab has leveraged the animated ‘put your mug in the middle of a show alongside your pals’ motif for everything from Rocker Birthday eCards and New Year resolution songs to movie-making Snowball Fights proliferating youth channels across social media platforms (even onto iPhone apps).
Still, I’ll always think of their clever creations and parodies in the political and pop culture mix. To me, that’s where they truly shine…never underestimate the power of a solid media mashup.
Hey, JibJab (or Frederator/Dan Meth or Free Range Studios) if you ever wanna take on a lil’ ol’ nonprofit client with a lot to say: Call me.
Meanwhile, here’s to a productive decade of meaningful messages ahead, leaving the vapid values of sleaze-n-tease behind, shifting toward using the power of media for positive change.
Enjoy Jibjab’s video of the year in review…
Hard to catch all the nuance without hitting replay…but unlike the year itself, this is easily done!
Thanx for stopping by and commenting. I like your site; lots of great info and fun at the same time.
.-= cooper´s last blog ..morons, part 27 =-.