Pop heiress Paris Hilton has announced her bid for presidency with a hilarious parody campaign video on comedy site Funny or Die.
The socialite’s spoof ad (embedded) is a response to the unauthorized use of her image in an ad released last Wednesday by Sen. John McCain’s camp, that suggested Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama is nothing more than a lightweight celebrity.
"I guess [that] means I’m running for president," Hilton says in the video, in which she is seen sunbathing, outlining her plans to resolve the energy crisis and thanking McCain, who she refers to as "that wrinkly white-haired guy," for his endorsement.
"She got it that the McCain thing was a low blow," Adam McKay, co-creator of Hilton’s parody, told AFP. "And she felt she didn’t want to return it with angry fire, and that this was the best way to respond. It’s a playful jab."
Hilton, more often the butt of jokes on the internet, has managed to wrangle the virtual upper hand with her rebuttal, while simultaneously re-establishing Funny or Die’s cred.
The comedy site hasn’t seen a real viral hit since Will Ferrell’s foul-mouthed baby short "The Landlord," which boasts nearly 60 million views since it first aired in 2007, but the celebutante’s faux campaign clip has soared to more than 3 million views in less than 24 hours.
See also:
Underwire 2.0: Jenna Wortham’s Google Reader, FriendFeed**, Twitter; The Underwire on Twitter and Facebook.
