Jennifer Aniston Smart Water Ad Lampoons Viral Memes [VIDEO]

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Smart Water sends up the whole idea of viral videos, with nods to memes such as Double Rainbow, animated dancing babies and lip-syncing kids, in a new ad featuring that recurring subject of Internet interest: Jennifer Aniston.

The nearly 3-minute ad features Aniston, a longtime Smart Water spokeswoman, being directed to include elements that will make the ad go viral. Aniston portrays herself as a naif to such things. “I’m here to talk to you about Smart Water,” says Aniston. “But in this day and age, I can’t just do that, can I? … I have to make a video apparently that turns into a virus.”

Aniston then appears with puppies, a parrot, dancing CGI babies and a Double Rainbow guy clone, before kicking a fan in his privates. “Sorry, but that should be worth about 100,000 hits,” she explains. Finally, Aniston suggestively drinks from a Smart Water bottle, getting her three “Internet boys” hot and heavy. The punchline? They decide to call the would-be viral video “Jen Aniston’s Sex Tape.”

Smart Water’s not the first marketer to realize the viral potential of stereotypical Internet memes. For instance, in the 2009 film Funny People, Jonah Hill’s struggling comic character put out a YouTube video of himself playing with kittens to get attention. That video has gotten more than 250,000 hits in real life.

What do you think? Can Smart Water have it both ways? Or is this idea not so smart after all? Tell us in the comments.

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