JibJab
| File:JibJab Logo - Wikipedia.png | |
Main Page as of 24 July 2009 | |
| Type of business | Private |
|---|---|
Type of site | Humor |
| Available in | English, Spanish, Japanese, French, Portuguese, Dutch |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
| Key people | Evan Spiridellis, Founder Gregg Spridellis, Founder & CEO |
| Employees | 35 |
| URL | JibJab.com |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | 1999 |
| Current status | Active |
JibJab is a digital entertainment studio based in Venice, California. Founded in 1999 by Evan and Gregg Spiridellis, it was noticed during the 2004 US presidential election when their video of George W. Bush and John Kerry singing "This Land is Your Land" became a hit. The company creates, produces and distributes original content. It has three main sections on the website - 1.) eCards 2.) 'Everyday Fun Sendables' such as funny videos and 3.) Originals including "This Land", "Time for Some Campaign'," "Big Box Mart" and more.
Election 2004
"This Land"
For the 2004 presidential election, JibJab created a Flash movie entitled This Land, which featured a parody of Woody Guthrie's song "This Land Is Your Land", sung by animated caricatures of George W. Bush and John Kerry.
This animation was an instant success, and the site was listed number one on Alexa's "Movers and Shakers" list. The video was so popular, it was viewed on every continent (including Antarctica) as well as the International Space Station.[1] 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.[2]
After being linked to on thousands of websites, the song 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 of 2004 the brothers were named People of the Year by Peter Jennings [3]
The Richmond Organization, a music publisher that owns the copyright to Guthrie's tune through its Ludlow Music Unit, threatened legal action.[4] 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.[5] Jim Meskimen voiced almost all the characters.
E-Cards
In 2007, JibJab made an option to put photographs of people's faces in some animated JibJab videos, and the option to send them to other people as e-cards or "sendables". [6]. This option is included in a video site "Elf Yourself" by OfficeMax[7], where you upload someone's face and they would be turned into a singing/dancing elf. JibJab has let people "star" in many movies like renditions of Star Wars in honor of the 30th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back [8] and Mad Men [9].
Logo
The logo of JibJab contains two depictions of men from the earlier times.
References
- ^ ABC News (December 31, 2004) [1]
- ^ USA Today (July 24, 2004)[2]
- ^ ABC News (December 31, 2004) [3]
- ^ Wired News (August 8, 2004)[4] CNN Money (July 26, 2004) [5]
- ^ CNET News.com (August 25, 2004)[6]
- ^ Mashable (August 9, 2007)[7]
- ^ MarketingProfs(December 11, 2007) [8]
- ^ The Washington Post (May 5, 2010) [9]
- ^ The Hollywood Reporter (July 6, 2010) [10]