Sponsored Content (South Park)

Last updated
"Sponsored Content"
South Park episode
Episode no.Season 19
Episode 8
Directed by Trey Parker
Written byTrey Parker
Production code1908
Original air dateNovember 18, 2015 (2015-11-18)
Guest appearance
Bill Hader as Tom
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Naughty Ninjas"		Next →
"Truth and Advertising"
South Park season 19
List of episodes

"Sponsored Content" is the eighth episode of the nineteenth season and the 265th overall episode of the animated television series South Park , written and directed by the series co-creator Trey Parker, and is also the first episode of a three-episode story arc that serves as the season finale. The episode premiered on Comedy Central on November 18, 2015. It parodies the abundance of online advertising, native advertising and clickbaits while humorously linking them to artificial intelligence, while continuing its season-long lampoon of political correctness. The story arc of this episode continues into the following episode "Truth and Advertising" and concludes with the episode "PC Principal Final Justice".

Contents

Plot

PC Principal is extremely angry over the word "retarded" being used in an op-ed column in the school newspaper and brings the paper's editor, Jimmy Valmer, to his office. Principal demands to review future editions of the newspaper before they are published to eliminate any offensive terms, but Jimmy refuses and accuses Principal of being unknowingly biased towards students with disabilities, a trait known as ableism. Principal states that the newspaper can no longer be distributed on campus, so Jimmy resorts to hand-delivering the paper to homes in South Park, including the fraternity house where Principal lives. Principal is further outraged when he sees that Jimmy's editorial in the newest edition refers to Principal's policy as "retarded".

Stephen Stotch comments to his wife Linda how refreshing it is to be able to simply read the news, without having to deal with the online newspapers, which are filled with sponsored content, clickbait ads and hyperlinks, but she is in a near-catatonic state staring at her smartphone. Principal brings Jimmy in to talk with another disabled student, Nathan, who expresses distress at hearing the word "retarded", but privately Nathan admits to Jimmy that he believes all the changes happening in South Park are not a coincidence and that "a war is coming". At a Presidential debate, Hillary Clinton's physical appearance is attacked by Mr. Garrison and his running mate, Caitlyn Jenner. Garrison and Jenner are then met backstage by Principal Victoria.

PC Principal hosts a party at his fraternity house for disabled people, including Jimmy, Timmy Burch, and others, but they are all marginalized there, as the younger fraternity members seem more interested in having sex with the women there, which they refer to as "crushing pussies". The next day, Jimmy prints an editorial that equates the politically correct term of "PC" to mean "Pussy Crushing". An advertising representative from GEICO offers Jimmy $26 million to allow their sponsored content in the school newspaper, but Jimmy refuses, as he has always declined any ads in the school newspaper. The man threatens to shoot Jimmy, but as he comments about the upcoming war, he is shot dead by Officer Barbrady, who then removes Jimmy from the scene. Randy and Sharon Marsh argue over the PC story in the newspaper, and Sharon finally demands that Randy stop going to their fraternity house, noting that Randy has changed and become more aggressive due to his association with the politically correct crowd.

Jimmy and Barbrady meet with a group of men led by a mysterious stranger (seen in the previous episode "Naughty Ninjas"), who states that online ads have become more intelligent and even anticipate people's desires and needs to the point where they have developed a level of artificial intelligence. Jimmy is tested and shown to have an unusual ability to distinguish actual news stories from online ads, after which he is introduced to a schoolmate named Leslie. Jimmy and Leslie realize that the men they have been speaking with are former news reporters. Victoria, who has been speaking with Garrison and Jenner, reveals that she was never fired, but replaced. Principal removes Jimmy from the school newspaper and replaces him with Nathan. After speaking with Leslie, Jimmy identifies her as an advertisement, while Principal is extremely shocked as he views an online ad featuring himself and Leslie. Jenner drives herself, Victoria and Garrison back to South Park, running over multiple people in the process.

Critical reception

IGN's Max Nicholson gave the episode a 7.8 out of 10 and summarized that the episode "didn't really have the 'epic tie-in' feel it was going for within the larger PC storyline". [1] Chris Longo from Den of Geek gave the episode 4 out of 5 stars and wrote in his review that the episode "hits all the right notes because Matt [Stone] and Trey [Parker] approach the dynamic between the readers, publishers, and advertisers in a way that’s painfully accurate". [2] Writing for The A.V. Club, Dan Caffrey rated the episode an A− and especially enjoyed the sci-fi references in the show, stating: "It also helps that everything’s played with a chilly sterility — Jimmy’s conversation with Leslie feels reminiscent of Blade Runner , Ghost in the Shell , A.I. , and any number of other films involving humans and the androids among them — that feels like a true embrace of science fiction rather than a straight-up parody of it." [3]

Related Research Articles

Mr. Herbert Garrison is a fictional character and occasional antagonist featured in the American animated television series South Park, created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Garrison first appeared in South Park's pilot episode, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", which aired on August 13, 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clickbait</span> Web content intended to entice users to click on a link

Clickbait is a text or a thumbnail link that is designed to attract attention and to entice users to follow ("click") that link and read, view, or listen to the linked piece of online content, being typically deceptive, sensationalized, or otherwise misleading. A "teaser" aims to exploit the "curiosity gap", providing just enough information to make readers of news websites curious, but not enough to satisfy their curiosity without clicking through to the linked content. Clickbait headlines often add an element of dishonesty, using enticements that do not accurately reflect the content being delivered. The "-bait" suffix makes an analogy with fishing, where a hook is disguised by an enticement (bait), presenting the impression to the fish that it is a desirable thing to swallow.

"#HappyHolograms" is the tenth and final episode in the eighteenth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 257th episode overall, it was written and directed by series co-creator and co-star Trey Parker. The episode premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on December 10, 2014. It is the second part of the two-part season finale which began with the previous episode, "#REHASH". The episode makes multiple references to earlier episodes over the season, as well as to previous seasons, while mainly lampooning the trend of culture constantly making trending topics with no actual relevance. It also lampoons news events such as the death of Eric Garner, the shooting of Michael Brown, the sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby, the use of celebrity holograms, and generationism. YouTuber PewDiePie appears as himself, continuing his story line from the previous episode.

"Stunning and Brave" is the first episode in the nineteenth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 258th episode overall, it was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. The episode aired on Comedy Central on September 16, 2015, and primarily parodies social justice warriors and political correctness within society, with a focus on the acceptance and praise of Caitlyn Jenner. The episode also lampoons Tom Brady and the Deflategate scandal.

"Where My Country Gone?" is the second episode of the nineteenth season of the animated television series South Park, and the 259th episode overall, written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. The episode premiered on Comedy Central on September 23, 2015. It parodies illegal immigration to the United States and the 2016 presidential candidacy of Donald Trump, along with Caitlyn Jenner and political correctness.

"The City Part of Town" is the third episode of the nineteenth season and the 260th overall episode of the animated television series South Park, written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. The episode premiered on Comedy Central on September 30, 2015. The episode primarily tackles gentrification and continues the season-long parody of political correctness.

"Safe Space" is the fifth episode of the nineteenth season and the 262nd overall episode of the animated television series South Park, written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. The episode premiered on Comedy Central on October 21, 2015. It parodies the idea of safe spaces while also continuing the season-long lampoon on political correctness.

"Tweek x Craig" is the sixth episode of the nineteenth season and the 263rd overall episode of the animated television series South Park, written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. The episode premiered on Comedy Central on October 28, 2015. The episode parodies the slash fiction genre of yaoi art and the acceptance of the gay community, while continuing its season-long lampoon of political correctness.

"Naughty Ninjas" is the seventh episode of the nineteenth season and the 264th overall episode of the animated television series South Park, written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. The episode premiered on Comedy Central on November 11, 2015. Continuing the season's theme of political correctness, the plot primarily lampoons police brutality.

"Truth and Advertising" is the ninth episode of the nineteenth season and the 266th overall episode of the animated television series South Park, written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. It is the second part of a three-episode story arc which began with the previous episode "Sponsored Content" and concludes with the following episode "PC Principal Final Justice" that together serve as the season finale. It premiered on Comedy Central on December 2, 2015. Like the previous episode, this episode continues to parody the abundance of online advertising while continuing its season-long lampoon of political correctness.

"PC Principal Final Justice" is the tenth and final episode of the nineteenth season and the 267th overall episode of the animated television series South Park, written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. The episode premiered on Comedy Central on December 9, 2015. It is the third and final part of a three-episode story arc that began with the episode "Sponsored Content" and continued in the episode "Truth and Advertising", which collectively serve as the season finale. The episode parodies the abundance of online advertising, as well as gun politics in the United States, as part of its season-long lampoon of political correctness.

"Member Berries" is the first episode in the twentieth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 268th episode of the series overall, it premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on September 14, 2016.

"Fort Collins" is the sixth episode in the twentieth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 273rd episode of the series overall, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 26, 2016.

"Oh, Jeez" is the seventh episode in the twentieth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 274th episode of the series overall, it first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 9, 2016. The episode lampooned the result of the 2016 United States presidential election the night before this episode was aired, in which Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.

"Sons a Witches" is the sixth episode in the twenty-first season of the American animated television series South Park. The 283rd overall episode of the series, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 25, 2017. The episode was seen by critics as parodying hypocrisy surrounding the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations.

"Moss Piglets" is the eighth episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series South Park. The 285th overall episode of the series, it first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 15, 2017.

"Super Hard PCness" is the ninth episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series South Park. The 286th overall episode of the series, it aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 29, 2017. This episode parodies sexual harassment in the workplace in the United States, the rise in Netflix original shows, cancel culture, and the threat of nuclear war.

"Splatty Tomato" is the tenth episode and the season finale of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series South Park. The 287th overall episode of the series, it premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on December 6, 2017.

"Board Girls" is the seventh episode of the twenty-third season of the American animated television series South Park. The 304th episode overall of the series, it premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on November 13, 2019. The episode argues that discussion of transgender athletes is made difficult by political correctness.

"Pajama Day" is the twenty-fifth season premiere of the American animated television series South Park. The 312th episode overall of the series, it premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on February 2, 2022, and was simulcast on Logo, MTV, MTV2, Paramount Network, Pop, and TV Land. It is the first South Park episode to air in its regular time slot since "Christmas Snow", which premiered December 11, 2019.

References

  1. ↑ Nicholson, Max (November 18, 2015). "South Park "Sponsored Content" Review". IGN . Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  2. ↑ Longo, Chris (November 19, 2015). "South Park: Sponsored Content Review". Den of Geek . Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  3. ↑ Caffrey, Dan (November 19, 2015). "South Park: "Sponsored Content"". The A.V. Club . Retrieved March 21, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.