Why More Brands Risk Mockery To Boost Image

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The glove compartment in the latest Dodge Caliber is no longer designed to hold maps and gasoline receipts. Instead, engineers at the Chrysler auto division have transformed it into a cooler for drinks and snacks—and severed body parts? A recent branded-entertainment segment on Comedy Central’s Stand-Up Nation showed the cooler being used to stow dismembered hands from a mill accident. “The chill zone holds up to four hands!” show host Greg Giraldo enthusiastically told the audience.

The bit is just one example of how a select but growing group of marketers is using self-deprecating humor in branded entertainment to appeal to their target consumers—often skewing young and male.

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