W+K New York, ESPN Pull Back the Curtain in ‘The 10 Club’

W+K New York and ESPN are back again with yet another 30-second This is Sportscenter spot. This time, we follow Clippers dunker and terrible free-throw shooter DeAndre Jordan as he enters the illustrious Top 10 Club reserved for individuals who make Sportscenter’s famed nightly Top 10 plays segment.

However, it turns out that the Top 10 Club is not so illustrious considering the windowless room looks more like a  doctor’s moldy waiting room than a hangout for stars and celebrities. ESPN  usually pokes fun in the context of sports news, but here, we get to see self-satire as Sportscenter parodies its own highlight tropes – i.e. the lanky high school kid who hits a full-court buzzer beater and the college mascot who does ridiculous college mascot shenanigans. I say this frequently, but it’s worth repeating, these spots are almost perfect for what they’re trying to accomplish, and they almost make you forget that Sportscenter has actually become a caricature of itself. Credits after the jump.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Thanks to One Club, FoD, You Can Now Get to Know ‘Brandon Dentertainment’

Usually, Funny or Die is funny, at least with the site’s playfully crude original material. When it comes to the company’s most recent branded content, however, you’ll notice an immediate difference in tone. When you look at Brandon Dentertainment, the creation of Funny or Die’s in-house commercial production company Gifted Youth, you won’t see Will Ferrell battling it out with Adam McKay‘s daughter. Instead, you’ll see a dry and corny fictitious character who will host the 5th annual One Show Entertainment Awards. There’ll also be bad special effects, used for a purposeful but hollow impact. According to those familiar with this effort, “You’d be surprised how much work it takes to make something look so thoroughly bad and cheesy.”

You might recognize the actor playing Mr. Dentertainment. I don’t know his name, nor do I think it’s all that relevant to look it up, but he’s had small roles on television. And now, he’s here to stick his hand into the field of branded content award shows. I’m not sure why, and I’m also not sure why there’s a 1980s theme for the award show promo. Basically, I’m just not sure. Everything about the aesthetic strikes me as random, which may be funny to some people. Who knows? But since this is tangentially related to  Dave Franco‘s basketball video with DeAndre Jordan, I can let it slide. As for One Show Entertainment, it takes place June 13 at Deutsch LA. Ticket info here.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.