JibJab

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JibJab Media Inc.
JibJab brand logo, 2016.png
Type of businessPrivately held company
Type of site
Humor
Available inEnglish
FoundedMarch 5, 1999; 22 years ago (1999-03-05)
Headquarters
Los Angeles, California
,
U.S.
Key peopleEvan Spiridellis, Founder
Gregg Spiridellis, Founder
Paul Hanges, CEO
EmployeesAt least 90[1]
URLwww.jibjab.com
RegistrationOptional
Launched1999; 22 years ago (1999)
Current statusActive
Evan & Gregg Spiridellis at Entertainment Gathering 2010

JibJab is an American digital entertainment studio based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1999 by brothers Evan and Gregg Spiridellis, it first achieved widespread attention during the 2004 US presidential election when their video of George Bush and John Kerry singing This Land Is Your Land became a viral hit. Initially known for political and social satire, JibJab produced commercials and shorts for clients such as Sony, Noggin, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, PBS Kids, Sprout, NBC, Qubo, and Disney before focusing on its now-flagship personalized eCard and messaging services. In 2016, its animated sticker-making program - which has been available since 2004 - became the top App Store app by download growth.[2]

In 2012, JibJab also expanded into the children's educational market with its multi-platform learning program, StoryBots, which has since spawned two Netflix TV series, Ask the StoryBots and StoryBots Super Songs.

In 2019, JibJab was acquired by the private equity firm Catapult Capital.[3]

Political satire[]

"Capitol Ill"[]

For the 2000 Presidential Election' JibJab released a Flash movie entitled "Capitol Ill" in July 2000, which featured an animated rap battle between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Appearances by Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush are also made.

"Ahnuld For Governor"[]

In 2003, JibJab produced a Flash movie poking fun at Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign for Governor of California. It depicts Schwarzenegger giving a campaign speech.

"This Land"[]

For the 2004 United States presidential election, JibJab created a Flash movie entitled "This Land," released on July 9, 2004, which featured animated versions of George W. Bush and John Kerry[4][5] - voiced by comedian Jim Meskimen - singing a parody of Woody Guthrie's song This Land Is Your Land.

The video was considered an instant success, eventually being viewed on every continent (including Antarctica) as well as the International Space Station.[5][6] The traffic surge forced JibJab's server to be shut down after one day, and the clip was placed on AtomFilms, where it got more than 1 million hits in 24 hours.[7]

After being linked to on thousands of websites, the video was featured several times in the printed media and on television, including NBC Nightly News, Fox News and ABC World News Tonight. On July 26, 2004, the creators appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In December 2004, the Spiridellis brothers were named People of the Year by Peter Jennings.[6]

The Richmond Organization, a music publisher that owns the copyright to Guthrie's tune through its Ludlow Music Unit, threatened legal action.[8] JibJab responded with a lawsuit in a California federal court, claiming the song was protected under a fair use exemption for parodies. JibJab and Ludlow Music reached a settlement after JibJab's attorneys unearthed evidence that the song had passed into the public domain in 1973. The terms of the settlement allowed for the continued distribution of This Land.[9]

"Good to be in DC"[]

In October 2004, JibJab followed up with another original animation, "Good to be in DC," set to the tune of Dan Emmett's "Dixie". In this video, animated versions of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, John Kerry, and John Edwards sing about their hopes for the upcoming election.

"Second Term"[]

Immediately after George W. Bush's election victory, JibJab released a third video, "Second Term." Set to the tune of "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain", an animated Bush gloats over his successful bid for a second term as president, and his plans for it, based on his campaign promises.

"Time for Some Campaignin'"[]

For the 2008 Presidential Election, JibJab released another election-themed animation, "Time for Some Campaignin'" in July of that year. Set to the tune of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin", animated versions of Bill and Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Barack Obama, George Bush, and Dick Cheney sing of their presidential hopes. This video was the first instance where viewers had the option of using Jibjab's e-card website to insert their own face as that of a harassed voter.

"He's Barack Obama"[]

Upon Barack Obama becoming president, JibJab released "He's Barack Obama", where they portrayed Obama as a superhero. The music becomes a heavy metal interpretation of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", as Obama promises he will fix the Middle East, defeat the Taliban, fix the schools, fight a giant space robot, wrestle a bear, fix the deficit and more.

2012 Election[]

For the 2012 Presidential Election, JibJab did not make an election video and instead began to focus their efforts on their e-card business. However, an election web app was released in late October of that year.[10]

Year in Review[]

Starting in 2005, and for the next nine consecutive years until 2014, JibJab annually released "Year in Review" videos, usually late in December between Christmas and New Year's Day, sung to all various classical melodies. The videos were originally uploaded on YouTube and their website. but on December 11, 2015, JibJab made a Facebook announcement that they would not be releasing anymore "Year in Review" videos as the brothers had begun finding them creatively unfulfilling. By then, ten "Year in Review" videos had been made; by the winter of 2016, JibJab removed all "Year in Review" videos from their website (although they would remain on their YouTube channel) and started to focus on their eCard videos instead. However, on November 24, 2020, in response to popular demand, JibJab revived the "Year In Review" series with a video about the past year, the first to use a non-classical tune, instead being custom-written.[11] JibJab has confirmed for plans to make a 2021 and 2022 "Year in Review" videos.

"2-0-5" - 2005 Year In Review[]

2-0-5 is the year in review video for the year 2005, and was later posted to YouTube in October 2007. It parodies the songs "Auld Lang Syne" and "Turkey In The Straw". 2-0-5 is sung from the perspective of George W. Bush reflecting on the year's events during a press conference. The mentions include:

Nuckin' Futs! - The JibJab Year In Review 2006[]

Posted to the internet in 2006 and later posted to YouTube in October 2007, this Year in Review portrays an elementary school Christmas concert with the kids singing about the past year, sung to the tune of Jingle Bells. Topics include:

In 2007[]

The tune "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel was used in 2007's Year in Review. The setup is a group of angels tasked with reporting on the Year 2007 attempting to avoid angering God with the documentation, and therefore "sugar-coating" it in a song. Topics included:

  • Global warming
  • Rising terrorism, specifically Osama bin Laden
  • Oil prices
  • Michael Vick and the Bad Newz Kennels dog fighting investigation
  • Al Gonzales resigning as attorney general
  • Lindsay Lohan's cocaine bust
  • Dennis Kucinich asserting that he had seen an unidentified flying object at the Philadelphia Democratic presidential debate
  • The 2007 Chinese export recalls
  • The nomination campaigning of Republican candidates Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John Boehner, John McCain, and Fred Thompson and Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson, John Edwards, and Barack Obama for the 2008 presidential elections
  • The War in Darfur
  • Iraq
  • The Don Imus Rutgers University women's basketball team controversy
  • The death of Anna Nicole Smith and its coverage in the media
  • Blackwater USA
  • Britney Spears' performance at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards
  • The Barry Bonds perjury case
  • The Malibu forest fires
  • The Airbus A380's first passenger flight (with Singapore Airlines)
  • Bob Barker retiring from The Price Is Right
  • Karl Rove dancing at the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner
  • The O. J. Simpson robbery case
  • President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf
  • President of Syria Bashar al-Assad
  • President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
  • Caitlin Upton winning the Miss Teen USA pageant
  • Cargill's beef recalls
  • The Larry Craig scandal
  • The rise of Facebook
  • 2007 Boston Red Sox season
  • The release of Halo 3 for Xbox 360
  • The Nintendo Wii console's rise in popularity
  • Martin Scorsese winning Best Picture and Best Director for The Departed at the 79th Academy Awards
  • Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie adopting their son, Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt.
  • Knut the polar bear's debut to the public
  • The first release of the iPhone
  • Sanjaya Malakar's performance on American Idol

The JibJab Year in Review 2008[]

Also known as The JibJab Year in Review '08, In this Year in Review the former Baby New Year of 2008 (a caricature of Jimmy Durante) is seen singing about the past year's events to the next Baby New Year for 2009. The song used in this is "Miss Susie". Some topics in the videos include:

Never A Year Like '09[]

Sung to the tune of "The Entertainer", it chronicles the year's past events. The animation style is notably different from past years. Events featured include:

  • The inauguration of Barack Obama
  • The controversial Afghan presidential election
  • Protests over the Iranian presidential election
  • The Henry Louis Gates arrest controversy
  • The divorce of Jon and Kate Gosselin
  • The finger-biting incident at a pro-Obama healthcare rally in Thousand Oaks, California
  • The public health insurance option
  • The resignation of Sarah Palin
  • Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea and him releasing Euna Lee and Laura Ling from their imprisonment
  • The swine flu pandemic
  • The David Letterman extortion attempt
  • The General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization
  • The "Miracle on the Hudson" water landing of US Airways Flight 1549 by captain Sully Sullenberger
  • The Michael Phelps marijuana scandal
  • "Octomom" makes headlines for giving birth to octuplets
  • Chicago's failed Summer Olympics bid
  • Michael Vick's return to the NFL
  • Brett Favre joining the Minnesota Vikings
  • Joe Wilson yelling "You lie!" during Obama's speech to joint session of Congress
  • The balloon boy hoax
  • The California budget crisis
  • The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
  • Carrie Prejean
  • The Mark Sanford disappearance and extramarital affair
  • David Souter
  • Sonia Sotomayor is elected to the Supreme Court
  • The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Barack Obama
  • Muammar Gaddafi's United Nations speech
  • The "Three Wolf Moon" internet phenomena.
  • The deaths of Michael Jackson, Patrick Swayze, Farrah Fawcett, Walter Cronkite, Ed McMahon, Billy Mays, Ted Kennedy, David Carradine, Bea Arthur, Roy E. Disney, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Mary Travers, Dom DeLuise, Ricardo Montalbán, Adam Goldstein, Lou Albano, John Hughes, Jack Kemp, Robert Novak, Robert McNamara, Irving Penn, Wayne Allwine, Gidget the Taco Bell chihuahua, and Socks the Cat
  • The popularity of Keyboard Cat on YouTube
  • Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
  • Oprah Winfrey announcing the cancelation of her show
  • Roman Polanski arrested in Zürich
  • The Jay Leno Show
  • Susan Boyle's first album released
  • Caroline Kennedy withdrawing from United States Senate
  • The new Yankee Stadium
  • Norm Coleman and Al Franken in an election contest
  • Ellen DeGeneres becomes a temporary judge on American Idol
  • The Fame Ball Tour
  • Christian Bale's on-set freakout towards a lighting equipment handler during the filming of Terminator Salvation
  • Adam Lambert's album For Your Entertainment
  • Lou Dobbs quitting CNN
  • James Cameron's Avatar breaking his previous box office record
  • The Walt Disney Company purchasing Marvel Comics
  • Pete Docter's Up
  • Levi Johnston in Playgirl
  • The Tiger Woods infidelity case
  • Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards

So Long To Ya, 2010[]

The 2010 Year in Review aired on December 19, 2010, on CBS News Sunday Morning. It featured puppets of Obama and Joe Biden singing about what happened in the year 2010; the song was set to the tune of "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze".[12] The review focused mainly on Barack Obama lamenting his good intentions for the year, and how various events thwarted his goals, such as:

President Obama concludes the year stating that during his time in office, "that seems to be what you get." This video ends with a basketball being thrown at President Obama, knocking him through the first "0" of "2010" and Biden stating that it will need stitches.

2011, Buh-Bye![]

On December 20, 2011, the 2011 Year in Review, titled "2011, Buh-Bye!" was released, and is available on YouTube. Sung to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean", it covered several events. These included:

  • The introduction of Ben & Jerry's new (yet controversial) ice cream flavor, "Schweddy Balls", inspired by Saturday Night Live
  • Charlie Sheen's removal from Two and a Half Men and subsequent rise to internet popularity
  • Theft claims by Lindsay Lohan
  • Charges of sexual assaults against Dominique Strauss-Kahn
  • The nomination process of the Republican candidates (including Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, and Herman Cain) during the 2012 presidential campaigns with the 9-9-9 Plan
  • The trial and conviction of Dr. Conrad Murray
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger's love child scandal
  • Standard & Poor's lowering the United States score for the first time
  • The high unemployment rate
  • The United States debt-ceiling crisis
  • The Anthony Weiner sexting scandal (Weinergate)
  • Taxation and Class War debates
  • Rupert Murdoch and the News of the World investigation
  • The 2011 United States listeriosis outbreak
  • The Greek debt contagion
  • The Arab Spring (including the 2011 Egyptian revolution and the 2011 Libyan civil war)
  • The death of Muammar Gaddafi
  • The removal of Don't ask, don't tell
  • The claims and denials of homosexuality in Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie
  • The death of Osama bin Laden
  • The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan
  • The 2011 England riots
  • The 2011 end times prediction by Harold Camping
  • The widespread 2012 phenomenon (also called the Mayan Prophecy or the Mayan Apocalypse)
  • The short-lived marriage by Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries
  • Jessica Simpson and Beyoncé both announce they are pregnant with their first children
  • The bankruptcy of Borders Group
  • Netflix policy changes lead people to unsubscribe, consequently losing over 75% brand value
  • Justin Bieber's new hairstyle
  • "Friday" by Rebecca Black
  • The Royal Wedding
  • The Occupy Wall Street movement and the widespread of the Occupy movement
  • The deaths of Steve Jobs, Elizabeth Taylor, Betty Ford, Randy Savage, Andy Rooney, Peter Falk, Ryan Dunn, and Amy Winehouse
  • The Nyan Cat Internet phenomena
  • The last Space Shuttle mission (STS-135)
  • The UC Davis pepper-spray incident
  • Mel Gibson's The Beaver
  • An earthquake in the US East Coast
  • The new Astrological Signs
  • The incident in Zanesville, Ohio when exotic animals, such as lions, tigers, and bears were released.

2012: The End is Here![]

Originally posted to the Internet and uploaded to YouTube on December 20, 2012, the 2012 Year in Review used the so-called "Mayan Prophecy" of the end of the world as its visual theme, complete with two faux-Mayan characters narrating the song. Taking place on 21 December 2012, it is sung to the tune of "Down By The Riverside". Events covered include:

  • Global warming results in arctic ice melting at a new record pace
  • Felix Baumgartner jumping to solid ground from the edge of the atmosphere (Red Bull Stratos)
  • The ongoing conflict in Libya (including the 2012 Benghazi attack)
  • The United States fiscal cliff
  • The popularity of Zumba
  • The book Fifty Shades of Grey
  • Sam Champion and Anderson Cooper coming out as gay
  • The Chick-fil-A same-sex marriage controversy
  • Kristen Stewart cheating on Robert Pattinson
  • The divorce of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise
  • Lance Armstrong being stripped of his titles for using performance-enhancing drugs
  • The disappointing price plunge of Facebook stock once the company went public
  • The record-breaking success of Marvel's Avengers movie, surpassing the same year's films The Dark Knight Rises; The Hunger Games and The Amazing Spider-Man
  • Rush Limbaugh's sexist tirade against Sandra Fluke, calling her such names as a "slut"
  • Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm
  • The first airing of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo
  • "Gangnam Style" by Psy
  • The failed restoration of Elías García Martínez's Ecce Homo by amateur restorer Cecilia Giménez
  • The popularity of "Ermahgerd" memes
  • The Secret Service escort scandal
  • The Petraeus scandal
  • The US Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
  • Clint Eastwood's discussion of politics with an empty chair representing Barack Obama during the Republican National Convention
  • The re-election of Obama to the Presidency (his opponent, Mitt Romney with his running mate Paul Ryan, are shown carrying "binders full of women" and a doll of Big Bird)
  • British monarch Queen Elizabeth's parachute entrance to the opening of the 2012 Summer Olympics
  • Olympic gold medal winners, including Michael Phelps, Missy Franklin, Gabby Douglas, and Usain Bolt
  • McKayla Maroney's "not impressed" facial expression following her second-place finish in the women's vault
  • The Curiosity rover on Mars
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger's autobiography Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story
  • The deaths of Michael Clarke Duncan, Andy Griffith, Phyllis Diller, Sherman Hemsley, Dick Clark, Larry Hagman, Whitney Houston, Jerry Nelson (represented alongside an angel version of Sesame Street's "Count von Count"), Donna Summer, Neil Armstrong, Hector Camacho, Alastair Burnet, Ernest Borgnine, Maurice Sendak, Dave Brubeck, and Ray Bradbury (as well as the bankruptcy and liquidation of Hostess Brands, represented by Twinkies mascot Twinkie the Kid shown as an angel)
  • Hurricane Sandy
  • Fail Mary, the controversial game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks that led to public outcry over NFL's replacement referees
  • Continuing friction between Israel and Palestine, namely Operation Pillar of Defense
  • Snooki gives birth to her first child, Lorenzo Dominic LaValle

The video ends with a meteor apocalypse impact on Earth, with 2013 beginning as JibJab's new year's era.

2013: What a Year![]

Posted on December 19, 2013, the 2013 year in review was themed as a Broadway musical number. It is sung to the tune of "Give My Regards To Broadway". Topics mentioned included:

2014, You Are History[]

JibJab's final year in review for six years was posted on December 21, 2014; the 2014 year in review is sung to the tune of Beethoven's 9th Symphony (Final Movement), a.k.a. "Ode to Joy". Mentions include:

  • 2014 Winter Olympics
  • 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict
  • The December 2014 Sony Pictures Entertainment hack and temporary cancellation of The Interview
  • The How I Met Your Mother series finale
  • Renée Zellweger's facial reconstruction
  • The 2014 Omar J. Gonzalez White House intrusion
  • The viral cover of the Paper magazine featuring Kim Kardashian
  • The rise of ISIS (The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant)
  • The Russian military intervention in Ukraine
  • The Republican victory in the congressional midterm elections
  • Barack Obama's executive orders
  • The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, death of Eric Garner in Staten Island, and subsequent nationwide unrest
  • The outbreak of the Ebola virus
  • The legalization of marijuana in Washington, D.C. and Colorado
  • The Ice Bucket Challenge
  • Hobby Lobby filing a lawsuit over the Affordable Care Act, refusing to cover employee birth control
  • The sexual assault allegations against and career implosion of Bill Cosby and subsequent removal of The Cosby Show from television.
  • Jay Leno's retirement from The Tonight Show and Jimmy Fallon's takeover
  • The ending of The Colbert Report as host Stephen Colbert prepares to succeed David Letterman on The Late Show
  • "All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor
  • Shia LaBeouf covering his face with a paper bag (with the words "I am not famous anymore" scribbled over it) at the Berlin Film Festival and Rob Cantor's Shia LaBeouf Live
  • Roger Goodell terminating Ray Rice from the Baltimore Ravens and Adrian Peterson from the Minnesota Vikings over domestic violence cases
  • The marriage of Brad Pitt to Angelina Jolie and George Clooney to Amal Alamuddin
  • The divorce of Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow
  • Justin Bieber's egg-throwing and DUI incidents, subsequent arrest, and continued career downfall
  • The Solange Knowles-Jay-Z elevator brawl
  • Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson
  • The Rosetta Spacecraft successfully landing on a comet
  • The success of Guardians of the Galaxy and Interstellar
  • The leaks of hundreds of nude celebrity photos on 4chan and Reddit, including Jessica Brown Findlay, Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, and Kirsten Dunst
  • "Happy" by Pharrell Williams and his giant mountie hat from the 56th Annual Grammy Awards
  • "Weird Al" Yankovic's Mandatory Fun
  • Jane Foster becomes Marvel Comics' first ever female Thor
  • The deaths of Casey Kasem, Norman Bridwell, Robin Williams, Sid Caesar, Pete Seeger, Richard Attenborough, Mickey Rooney, Maya Angelou, Jan Hooks, Harold Ramis, Joan Rivers, and Philip Seymour Hoffman
  • The 2014 FIFA World Cup, specifically Germany's 7-1 thrashing of Brazil in the semifinals
  • "Anaconda" by Nicki Minaj and Eaten Alive
  • The release of the iPhone 6 and U2's ill-fated Songs of Innocence album release
  • Malaysia Airlines aircraft losses (The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17)
  • Potato Salad Kickstarter
  • Gamergate controversy
  • The Chase Bank, Home Depot, and Sony data breaches
  • Tracy Morgan's traffic accident and subsequent lawsuit against Walmart
  • The Washington Redskins logo change controversy
  • Malala Yousafzai winning a 2014 Nobel Peace Prize
  • The discovery of Dreadnoughtus schrani, believed to be the largest dinosaur ever to exist
  • Star Wars: The Force Awakens announcement
  • Janet Yellen becomes Chairwoman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
  • The racist comments made by Donald Sterling, and the ensuing controversy

2020, You've Got to Go[]

After not creating a new Year in Review since 2014, You Are History; JibJab revived the tradition in 2020 due to fan demand on November 24, 2020. This Year In Review is the first to be in JibJab's signature "Starring You" format. Events mentioned include:

  • Billie Eilish’s numerous wins at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards
  • Parasite winning Best Picture at the 92nd Academy Awards
  • Brexit
  • Donald Trump's impeachment
  • The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns
  • The usage of face masks during the pandemic
  • The usage of "Karen" as an insult term
  • Increase of hand washing and hand sanitizers during the pandemic
  • Closures of barber shops and hair salons
  • Panic buying of toilet paper due to the pandemic
  • Zoom becomes widely used as a result of the pandemic
  • Streaming service usage increases as movie theaters close during the pandemic
  • The murder of George Floyd and the killing of Breonna Taylor, and the ongoing respective Black Lives Matter nationwide protests that ensued
  • The Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, and Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle
  • Donald Trump on Twitter
  • Sweatpants fashion
  • Tiger King
  • Sightings of the Asian giant hornet (also known as the "murder hornet") in Seattle, Washington
  • The rise of TikTok and subsequent attempts to ban the service
  • Jeff Bezos’s income increases
  • Sports events being held in empty arenas
  • LeBron James becomes MVP of the 2020 NBA Finals
  • The deaths of Kobe Bryant, Eddie Van Halen, Kenny Rogers, Little Richard, Chadwick Boseman, Alex Trebek, Sean Connery, James Lipton, Ennio Morricone, Kirk Douglas, Regis Philbin, Herman Cain, John Lewis, Katherine Johnson, Bill Withers, Kelly Preston, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg
  • The 2020 Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates, including the incident of a fly landing on Mike Pence’s face
  • Donald Trump testing positive for COVID-19
  • 2020 United States presidential election, the slow count due to heavy mail-in votes and Joe Biden's victory, as well as allegations of electoral fraud and the ensuing efforts to overturn the results by Donald Trump and his supporters
  • US West Coast fires
  • 2020 COVID-19 recession
  • Black Panther (film)
  • Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic

Others[]

Big Box Mart[]

In 2005, JibJab released the video "Big Box Mart".[13] Sung to the tune of "Oh, Susannah", it tells the story of a 53-year-old frequent patron of the titular big-box store, who is enthralled by the store's discounts and offers, but soon loses his job as a factory worker, which is outsourced to Beijing, China as a result of the company now selling cheap products to Big Box Mart stores. The man is left no choice but to be employed at his local Big Box Mart for the rest of his life.

What We Call the News[]

Sung to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic", "What We Call the News" laments the decline of journalism in the cable TV era, particularly sensationalistic stories.

Founding Fathers Rap[]

George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson rap about their accomplishments and end their verse with "We Declare Our independence". They are accompanied by John Adams and James Madison. Adams is the DJ, and Madison says "Oh Yeah" after every verse.

Shawshank In A Minute[]

This sketch was part (and winner) of a 2006 online competition, The Great Sketch Experiment, held by JibJab[14] and their first live action production. Participants included the comedy duo Famous Last Nerds (Jordan Allen-Dutton and Erik Weiner) and John Landis as director. It both summarizes and parodies The Shawshank Redemption, condensing the plot to a length of nearly three minutes and underlining it with rap music.

Music videos[]

JibJab produced a music video for the 2006 song "Do I Creep You Out?" by Weird Al Yankovic, a parody of Taylor Hicks' "Do I Make You Proud?". The video depicts the main character stalking a barista in increasingly disturbing ways, ending with his being arrested and jailed as he publicly professes his emotions in a song. In 2009 JibJab produced another music video for Yankovic for the song "CNR", which is a style parody of The White Stripes. The video and song portrays Charles Nelson Reilly as a superhuman doing seemingly impossible or improbable things. It also features Yankovic and Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz as Jack White and Meg White respectively.

E-cards and messaging[]

Starting in October 2007, JibJab began its focus on personalized eCards and videos, letting users insert photographs of their faces into humorous birthday cards, holiday greetings and congratulatory notes[15] and send them to other people as e-cards or "sendables".[16] Initially, this included branded personalized videos, including working with OfficeMax on the video site Elf Yourself,[17] where an uploaded photo is put onto a singing and dancing elf, as well as partnerships with Star Wars (for the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back[18]) and Mad Men.[19] A series of eCards were created by Internet personality Dane Boedigheimer (best known for later creating The Annoying Orange) known as "From the Fridge", featuring anthropomorphized foods such as eggs, chocolates, avocados, pumpkins, cranberries, and cookies suffering a horrifying torture or death in accordance with their use or consumption for events and holidays such as birthdays, anniversaries, congratulation, Valentine's Day, the Super Bowl, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.[20]

Since then, in addition to greeting eCards, JibJab has also extended its personalization technology to popular music videos, including:[21]

  • ...Baby One More Time (Britney Spears)
  • Friday (Rebecca Black)
  • Gangnam Style (Psy)
  • Sexy and I Know It (LMFAO)
  • Shut Up and Dance (Walk the Moon)
  • Addicted to Love (Robert Palmer)
  • Roar (Katy Perry)
  • Take On Me (A-ha)
  • All About That Bass (Meghan Trainor)
  • Cake by the Ocean (DNCE)
  • Happy (Pharrell Williams)
  • Sorry (Justin Bieber)
  • Cheap Thrills (Sia Furler)

Since launching its eCard service, more than 100 million people have visited JibJab's website annually.[15] In 2014, the company launched a messaging app for personalized animated GIFs, available on both IOS and Android platforms. In 2016, the JibJab app was one of the first mobile apps to be enable for IMessage and was ranked first among them in download growth.[2] The JibJab app was also featured prominently in Apple's annual WWDC product presentation.[22]

StoryBots[]

Main article: StoryBots

In 2012, JibJab expanded into the children's educational market with its multi-platform learning program, StoryBots. The brand currently includes web-based educational content, as well as two Netflix television series, Ask the StoryBots and StoryBots Super Songs.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ https://www.linkedin.com/vsearch/p?f_CC=59526
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Nelson, Randy. "JibJab Leads iMessage Enabled Apps in Download Growth Following iOS 10's Launch". sensortower.com. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  3. ^ "JibJab, one of the first silly selfie video makers, acquired by private equity firm Catapult Capital". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  4. ^ "The Complete Lyrics of JibJab's "This Land" Parody / Travis' Column: Hot Off the Presses". Hopstudios.com. November 16, 2011. Archived from the original on May 2, 2009. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "This Land | Funny Video Animation by JibJab". JibJab. Sendables.jibjab.com. July 9, 2004. Archived from the original on 2009-02-04. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "People of the Year: Spiridellis Brothers". ABC News. 7 January 2006.
  7. ^ "USATODAY.com - This Net was made for you and me and the rest of the world". www.usatoday.com.
  8. ^ Wired News (August 8, 2004)[1] CNN Money (July 26, 2004) [2]
  9. ^ "JibJab beats copyright rap".
  10. ^ "JibJab". www.jibjab.com.
  11. ^ https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=nNaGzi_LpDw
  12. ^ "So Long To Ya, 2010". JibJab.com. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  13. ^ JibJab (16 October 2007). "JibJab - Big Box Mart" – via YouTube.
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