Buzz
People often struggle to separate truth from humor. While the best jokes often have a kernel of reality, that's not exactly the approach taken by the comedians in these instances.
10. Jesus Christ Promotions
The 1978 parody monster film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is infamous for being dubbed the worst movie ever made. With its plot, production, and humor reminiscent of a 1970s Saturday Night Live skit stretched out into a feature, it's a love-it-or-hate-it experience. Despite its questionable quality, the film spawned three sequels, a TV spinoff, and even a re-release by Disney in the 1990s (though a proposed remake in 2008 never came to fruition).
In one scene, a marketing agency is hired to ease public anxiety about the genetically modified tomatoes. The head of the agency proudly presents ‘the greatest commercial ever made’ to showcase their skills. In this unseen ad, the words ‘Jesus Christ for Technitron’ are heard, causing the presidential press secretary to react with shock. In 1978, the idea of a commercial implying Jesus endorses a product was considered scandalously inappropriate.
Fast forward to May 2013, when Anna Pierre, a candidate for mayor in Miami, claimed that Jesus Christ had endorsed her run for office. She said her endorsement came after she consistently sought divine guidance in her decisions. However, her political ambitions were not realized, as the voters ultimately chose her opponent.
After losing, Pierre remarked that the public had chosen Satan over Jesus in the election. While an endorsement from Satan might not be considered the greatest commercial ever, it surely wouldn’t be the worst either.
9. Trillion-Dollar Currency
In the long-running and still widely acclaimed The Simpsons, one of the more absurd episodes was 'The Trouble with Trillions,' which aired in 1998. The episode humorously proposes that the United States funded the European reconstruction after World War II by printing a single trillion-dollar bill, which ends up in the hands of the powerful nuclear mogul Mr. Burns. The sum is outlandish (America’s entire GDP in 1945 was less than a quarter of $1 trillion), but even more ridiculous was the idea of assigning such an enormous value to a single bill. Nonetheless, by 2012 and 2013, politicians and economists began discussing whether the U.S. should mint a trillion-dollar coin.
Normally, when the government is running a deficit, its budget is restricted by the amount Congress authorizes the president to borrow. In 2013, the government repeatedly came close to hitting the debt ceiling and even had to shut down for more than two weeks. Laws prevent the government from bypassing the debt ceiling by printing unlimited money, and similar laws prohibit the Treasury from minting infinite gold or silver coins. However, a 2000 law concerning commemorative coinage allows the Treasury to mint platinum currency of any value. This means the Treasury could produce a $1 trillion coin and deposit it at the Federal Reserve, giving the government an extra trillion dollars to spend without needing Congressional approval.
This solution wouldn’t address the U.S. economy's fundamental issues, but it would circumvent the artificial political constraint of the debt ceiling. In the end, however, the Treasury and the Fed agreed not to pursue this unusual option.
8. A Distraction Tactic in the Midst of Crisis
Wag the Dog, a well-received and critically adored political satire, was named by the American Film Institute as one of the top 100 American comedies of the 20th century. The 1997 film follows a sitting president caught in a scandal. To shift public attention away from this, the government stages fake military operations against Albania as part of a distraction strategy ahead of the election.
On January 21, 1998, news outlets began reporting on President Clinton's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The case soon became as famous for the media’s sensationalism as it did for the president’s actions. Later in the same year, the U.S. took military action in the Balkans, Sudan, and Iraq. While these were real operations, they were at the time seen (rightly or wrongly) as an effort by the Clinton administration to divert the public's focus from the scandal.
Some even claim that they spotted an image of Clinton and Lewinsky in Wag the Dog, which would be notable considering the public hadn’t heard of Lewinsky during the film’s production. (However, that’s not the case—it’s actually a picture of characters from the film itself.)
7. A Blood-Splattering Billboard
Another instance from The Simpsons comes from the 1993 episode “The Itchy and Scratchy Movie,” where a billboard promoting a film sprays an overwhelming amount of fake blood in two directions. The absurdity of this design is instantly revealed when blood splashes onto a passing car.
In 2008, to promote a broadcast of Kill Bill Vol. 1, a billboard in Auckland, New Zealand depicted blood gushing from Uma Thurman’s sword. The billboard went above and beyond typical advertising by splattering paint on a wall, sidewalk, street, and even on some cars. This unexpected effort was a bold move for a TV airing of a movie already five years old, but it brought a playful old joke back to life.
6. Turning a Failure Into a Success
Manos: The Hands of Fate, a 1966 film, is infamous for being considered the worst movie ever to receive theatrical release. Among its many flaws was the lack of a professional cast. Three people provided all the voices, and in many scenes, the characters simply stood frozen, staring at one another. The film's director, Hal Warren, made it on a bet that anyone could create a movie and get it shown in theaters.
During its premiere in El Paso, Texas, most of the cast and crew were too ashamed to stay until the end. This left director Warren in a joking mood, and he quipped, “If we dubbed the movie with new dialogue, we could sell it as a comedy.”
In 1993, the film was dubbed with comedic commentary for Mystery Science Theater 3000, a comedy show that aired for 10 years on Comedy Central. It became one of the most popular movies featured on the program. After spending years in obscurity, only screening in a few theaters during its original release, the film became so beloved that it played in hundreds of theaters nationwide. All of this happened because of an accidental prophecy made by its creator during a moment of failure.
5. The Silliest Musical
During one writing session for the cult ’90s cartoon The Critic, writer Mike Reiss asked, “What’s the stupidest thing to try to make into a musical?” In the resulting episode, a couple of characters go to a family-friendly Broadway musical adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. After all, with Hunchback’s tragic content and complex plot and characters, it would be like doing a happy musical version of The Grapes of Wrath.
But as Disney fans well know, this show was a couple years early in parodying the animated epic The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Critics indeed bashed the movie for failing to capture the spirit of the book in favor of more generic content and a lightweight tone.
The prediction became even more accurate in 2013, when The Hunchback of Notre Dame was actually staged on Broadway, based on the Disney movie. As writer Al Jean says in the commentary for the episode, “It doesn’t even sound like a satire anymore. Just like something they’d do.”
4. The Onion Dictates Gillette’s Product Line
The Onion is the world’s most renowned satirical newspaper, yet there are still countless instances where people are publicly embarrassed for taking it seriously as legitimate news. A notable example is Louisiana Rep. John Fleming, who believed in an article about a plan to create a $6 billion mega-clinic for abortions.
You’d think that anyone who believed a February 2004 article about a Gillette razor with five blades would be considered ridiculous. At the time, a three-blade razor was already deemed excessive.
A year and a half after The Onion published its spoof, Gillette released both a manual and an electric razor featuring five blades. By that time, their competitors at Schick had already introduced the Quattro blade, putting pressure on Gillette to follow suit. Since then, even this extreme razor design was surpassed by the Titan 6 in 2010.
3. Dr. Strangelove Writes Soviet Nuclear Strategy
In Stanley Kubrick's 1963 satirical nuclear war film, 'Plan R' allows military commanders at airbases to launch nuclear strikes, fearing that a Soviet preemptive attack could sever communication with Washington. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union in the movie has a hidden doomsday device that guarantees automatic detonation of all their nuclear weapons in case of a strike within its borders, resulting in a nuclear winter. But the Soviets keep the device a secret, thus making it ineffective as a deterrent, as noted by Dr. Strangelove, the former Nazi scientist: 'The premier loves surprises.'
In reality, in 1983, amidst the tensions from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Soviet Union implemented a system named 'Dead Hand.' This automatic computer system would trigger a nuclear response if communication with high command was lost after an American preemptive strike. 'Dead Hand' was a fusion of both American and Soviet nuclear strategies, and just like in 'Dr. Strangelove,' it was kept secret during its time.
2. Suicide Machines, On Schedule
In the 1999 pilot episode of the animated series 'Futurama,' set in the year 3000, a contraption disguised as a telephone booth is revealed to be a suicide machine. The machine includes a recorded message stating it comes from the most reliable manufacturer of suicide booths 'since 2008.' At the time, Fox executives hesitated to allow suicide machine jokes in a prime-time network TV show, but the concept eventually became a recurring comedic element in the series.
In 2008, a groundbreaking self-service suicide machine was revealed. Developed by the serious-minded Dr. Roger Kusch from Germany, this device was far more practical than the fantastical, deadly contraptions seen in Futurama. It was essentially a modified breathing apparatus designed to administer poisonous gas to the user.
Dr. Kusch wasn't the only one exploring the concept of suicide machines in 2008. Dr. Philip Nitschke from Australia introduced a design for a suicide device that could be secretly constructed using common household items. He argued that providing people with a painless and reliable means to end their life would give them a sense of control, potentially dissuading them from taking such a step. This notion, rich with irony, could have easily found a place in a Futurama episode centered on the ethics of suicide booths.
1. Restaurant Grease Energy
Kentucky Fried Movie is a beloved 1977 sketch comedy film written by the Zucker brothers and Jim Abrahams, known for their later works like Airplane! and the Naked Gun series. This film is also significant as the breakthrough project in John Landis's career.
The movie opens with a sketch about a company named Argon that extracts oil from the faces of teenagers, using it as an alternative energy source. The absurdity intensifies as the sketch imagines even more outlandish sources of oil, such as the combs of Italian men, and eventually, fast food like fried chicken.
A few decades after the release of the film, biodiesel emerged as a legitimate energy source. By 2008, used grease and vegetable oil from restaurant fryers were being stolen to power greener energy initiatives, which indicated the high demand for it. This was not just a passing trend. In 2014, California introduced legislation to combat grease theft from restaurants, as it was reportedly causing restaurant owners to lose millions of dollars in potential sales to green energy companies.
