A few weeks ago billboards proclaiming “Netflix is a joke” popped up around the country without any explanation. Where did they come from? What did they mean?
The mystery was finally solved during the Emmys on Sunday night, and now we know that the Netflix billboards were — surprise! — advertising for Netflix.
A star-studded ad featuring some of the biggest working comedians, including Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen DeGeneres and Dave Chappelle premiered during the awards broadcast on Sunday, promoting the streaming platform’s upcoming stand-up specials.
The commercial inserts the comics into some of the platform’s Emmy-nominated original series like “Orange Is the New Black,” “House of Cards” and “Stranger Things.”
Netflix has been heavily pushing into the stand-up comedy space lately, spending vast resources to out-buy competitors HBO and Comedy Central. The streamer raised eyebrow’s last year when its deals with Chappelle and Rock came with a price tag of $20 million per special. Amy Schumer was initially offered $11 million for her own special, but admitted she asked for more after noting the disparity with her male counterparts.
Next up, Jerry Seinfeld’s much-promoted stand-up special “Jerry Before Seinfeld” will premiere on Sept. 19.
Anyone know what's up with these @netflix is a joke ads up in Hell's Kitchen in NYC? pic.twitter.com/nm1k4LWW8S
— The Laugh Button (@thelaughbutton) September 5, 2017