The first JibJab election videos are turning 20 years old. How do they hold up? What's surprising?

[Blue3]

2004 election:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8Q-sRdV7SY

Bush winning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE8V22unwRo


How do they hold up?

What's surprising about what people thought was a big deal 20 years ago, and ended up not being that big a deal?

What's surprising about perceptions back in 2004?



Also, not 20 years yet, but the 2005/2006/2007 years in review were gold, along with the 2008 election
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ThHrqlGdSk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLQ928VhyxM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztj2qfui114
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adc3MSS5Ydc
(they kept going to 2014, then came back in 2020)

[afleitch]

Boomer humour. It's like animated Garrison cartoons.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Kind of embarrassing.

Though I remember a video they made about Schwarzenegger running for Governor that was kind of amusing.

[emailking]

I loved the 2004 election video, the 2006 year in review video, and the 2020 year in review video.

[Nyvin]

The 2004 video comes off kinda strange to me in that the only attacks against Bush are that he's a war hawk and a dumbass.   I guess most of the bad stuff about Bush came out later so it didn't quite make it in 2004 though.

[An American Tail: Fubart Goes West]

They were funny, but yeah, there’s some things that just don’t quite hold up. Like the whole of “It’s good to be in DC.” The years in review are a bit better.

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

These videos were how I learned what menage a trois meant

[Crumpets]

I very clearly remember hanging out with an older neighbor kid I didn't know very well on Halloween 2004 and him showing me the "This Land" JibJab video. I'm pretty sure I was dressed as Buckbeak the hippogriff that year.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

A lot of their humor does hold up in interesting ways, but more the general ones than the election ones.

"Big Box Mart" might be my favorite - it's a fascinating look back at when WalMart was playing the role Amazon is now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKv6RcXa2UI

[Electric Circus]

Reminds me of an SNL sketch or those awful "historical rap battle" videos on YouTube.

I can remember these videos circulating at the time, often via e-mail forward. They may have been on sites like EBaum's World as well. The formula was to load a parody song or pastiche with references that most casual followers of politics would get. The references themselves don't need to be clever, because the laughs are driven by recognition. 

It's a style that hasn't aged well in an era where people have a different relationship with information, but it remains a hallmark of humor meant for broad audiences. The bigger issue with these videos is that they're not optimized for how people watch content online in 2024. And it just wouldn't land for someone who didn't have at least some memory of following an election two decades ago. But there's plenty of political humor that has aged even worse.

[Independents for Nihilism]

I'm pretty sure their 2008 election video to the tune of The Times They Are a-Changin' was what got me to first listen to Dylan. I was a bit too young for their Bush era-stuff when it was fresh but the 2005 year in review holds up well as both a parody song and in a "the more things change" sort of way, and it's weirdly nostalgic looking at Dubya as a put-upon everyman. They tried to do the same thing with Obama just wanting a smoke but it didn't really work.

Honestly, we could use more good-natured political ribbing like this again. Not everything needs to be made out to be life or death.

[ProudModerate2]

They were a popular "thing" back then.
They hold up well.
Seeing the links you provided, gave me a good chuckle; a blast to the past.

[wnwnwn]

This land will vote for meeeeeeee
Maybe a bit biased agaisnt Kerry, I suppose.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Oh my god this is such a throwback

[Damocles]

I much preferred the matzo rap one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olg1efSlvLg

[Arizona Iced Tea]

Milennials had JibJab, Gen Z has ERB.