While the desire to pair humor with a commercial message has a long history in advertising-- Burger King's creepy King character and Bud Light's "Real Men of Genius" being sterling examples--the PR industry has demonstrated a sluggish embrace of yucks as a vehicle to deliver a message about companies, brands or issues.

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The 2008 Obama folks, including the president himself, were relentless in staying on message, whether the message came by way of a speech, a poster, a television commercial, or a Web site.

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Sullivan figures viewers will welcome this novel blending of the creative and commercial worlds as a not-too-jarring way to connect a sponsor's message with a show.

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