Last night was the 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, a ceremony where our beloved television industry pats itself on the back and tells itself how good they did. It’s a night full of accolades for those who excelled in the entertainment industry, those who created the best television that year, those who went above and beyond what is expected of them.
Netflix has been a consistent producer of the years best shows; several favorites like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, and Master of None are celebrated as amazing dramas that continue to prosper and branch out into new territory each year. It’s a great position for Netflix to be in, but they understand that there’s more to offer than just their serialized drama series.
Which is why their ‘Netflix is a Joke’ video, aired during The Emmy’s, is a incredibly smart marketing move.
‘Netflix is a Joke’ is essentially an advertisement that takes old clips from Netflix Original shows, and has new footage of comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Ellen Degeneres spliced in, cracking jokes at the expense of the shows they’re ridiculing. It’s a simple tactic, but the stage it debuted on, The Emmy’s, is the perfect way to suggest that Netflix has more to offer than just their exceptional shows. And what better way to make that clear than to have the likes of Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, Degeneres, and Chris Rock, satirize the dramas that the company is so well known for?
The video is apart of a major effort by Netflix to re-brand itself. Everyone knows Netflix has a fantastic line-up of series to lose yourself in, but more often than not people are still in the dark about another area that the company pumps a significant portion of money into: Stand-up Comedy. Netflix has spent over $100 million funding comedy specials exclusively for their platform, making them the new HBO in terms of comedy output. The best Stand-up performances of the past few years have all been Netflix exclusive: Louis C.K. 2017, Dave Chappelle’s The Age of Spin and Deep in the Heart of Texas, Ali Wong: Baby Cobra, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Netflix has more specials on the way, with new performances from Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen Degeneres, Chris Rock, and Dave Chappelle.
I think this approach is hilarious, and combined with their guerilla-style billboard ads that simply read, “Netflix is a Joke,” people are sure to start tuning into the wealth of comedy specials that exist on the streaming service.
[via YouTube]
