Surprise Funny or Die spoof "The Art of the Deal" recommends viewers watch it on Apple TV

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited February 2016
A mockumentary secretly produced by Funny or Die, staring Johnny Depp as US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump, has grabbed widespread media attention, making it particularly notable that, "for the best viewing experience," the comedy site recommends viewers "get the Funny or Die app for Apple TV."


Source: Funny or Die


The production was launched as a surprise today after filming last month in complete secrecy, despite featuring an all-star cast of comics and actors, including Ron Funches, Christopher Lloyd, Alfred Molina, Stephen Merchant, Joe Nunez, Patton Oswalt, Andy Richter, Kristen Schaal, Michaela Watkins and Henry Winkler.

The production, leveraging the timeliness of Trump's U.S. election victory in the New Hampshire primary, made news headlines across CNN, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Variety in addition to social networks including Twitter.

As noted by Brooks Barnes for the Times, news of the "Art of the Deal" production avoided being leaked for weeks, enabling it to make an Apple Event-like splash appearance today.

Funny or Die launched as a comedy video website in 2007, founded by comic actor Will Ferrell and two other screenwriter/producers, Chris Henchy and Adam McKay. The site derives its name from the solicited feedback of viewers' ratings of the videos it creates and publishes.

In December, the site became among the first video producers to embrace Apple's fourth generation Apple TV with a custom app, enabling users to watch videos on demand. The site also offers an app for iPhone and iPad users.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    Problem is these small content creators toss everything on YouTube so there's no reason to have multiple apps.
    edited February 2016
  • Reply 2 of 14
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    It's like a who's who of Lefty comics and actors.
  • Reply 3 of 14
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,198member
    1. All these specialized apps are to track you better... no way to delete "tracking cookies" like you can in Safari

    2. Nice retrospective of Donald J. Trump's sordid career (which isn't all that funny)
  • Reply 4 of 14
    xixoxixo Posts: 449member
    it wasnt that funny. i fell asleep
    pmz
  • Reply 5 of 14
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    xixo said:
    it wasnt that funny. i fell asleep
    So..."Die"?
    jbdragon
  • Reply 6 of 14
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    When I first read the URL of this group many years ago, I assumed it was “Funny Ordie”. Never been able to shake that. Also never seen any of their content nor heard of its influence, so I imagine it leans more to the ordie. Ah, well.
    macky the mackySpamSandwich
  • Reply 7 of 14
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    and why is the AI news to all of us. I guess it was about the last line the production company supports the ATV.
  • Reply 8 of 14
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    cali said:
    Problem is these small content creators toss everything on YouTube so there's no reason to have multiple apps.
    the FoD app is better than using YouTube to access the same. and it has added value, such as the voting buttons ("Funny", "Die")
  • Reply 9 of 14
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    maestro64 said:
    and why is the AI news to all of us. I guess it was about the last line the production company supports the ATV.
    The real purpose seems to be an excuse to criticize Trump since the link to Apple is about an atom thin.
    tallest skil
  • Reply 10 of 14
    messagepad2100messagepad2100 Posts: 213member
    maestro64 said:
    and why is the AI news to all of us. I guess it was about the last line the production company supports the ATV.
    The real purpose seems to be an excuse to criticize Trump since the link to Apple is about an atom thin.
    You'll survive.

    You have Fox News and Talk Radio to slather yourself in whatever message you want.

    Besides.  If you ACTUALLY watched the video, you would see that this fictional Trump is a lot more likable than the real one.  It's actually kind of positive.
    edited February 2016
  • Reply 11 of 14
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,311member
    messagepad2100 said:
    The real purpose seems to be an excuse to criticize Trump since the link to Apple is about an atom thin.
    You'll survive.

    You have Fox News and Talk Radio to slather yourself in whatever message you want.

    Besides.  If you ACTUALLY watched the video, you would see that this fictional Trump is a lot more likable than the real one.  It's actually kind of positive.
    WOW, same old, so threaten by FOX NEWS and Talk Radio! Rather hear the left leaning LIES from everywhere else.
    tallest skil
  • Reply 12 of 14
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    messagepad2100 said:
    You have Fox News and Talk Radio to slather yourself in whatever message you want.
    So you don’t comprehend anything about any of the positions of the relevant parties, then.
  • Reply 13 of 14
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Isn't this the same Funny or Die that made an incredibly stupid, lame and not funny at all mockumentary about Steve Jobs a while back? I remember a thread about it on this site a while ago, and I'm pretty sure that I wasn't too kind to Funny or Die in that thread.

    There is no way in hell that I am going to waste a single millisecond of my time to watch their latest effort/flop. 






  • Reply 14 of 14
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Pretty good going for the tv to already have the kind of app economy that would get even rubbishy web sites to have their own app.

    The movie?  Not funny.  Not because it's leftie, not because Trump isn't an intrinsically ridiculously figure, just because it isn't funny, just like 99% of the stuff FoD seems to put out.

    But by all means, let the partisan mudslinging continue.
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