Paul Rudd in a New York State COVID-19 PSA Image by Screenshot from Twitter

By PJ Grisar September 15, 2020

For years our greatest minds have puzzled over a fundamental paradox of postmodern comedy: Is it possible to be so woefully, self-awarely out-of-touch that you end up on the right side of cool?

The conceit was tested yet again in a newly-released COVID-19 PSA tweeted by Pandemic Daddy and Auschwitz thirst-trapper Governor Andrew Cuomo, featuring that most meme-able of celebrities, Paul Rudd.

Certified young person Paul Rudd wants you to wear a mask. Listen up: pic.twitter.com/GTks5NUBmR

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) September 14, 2020

In the two-minute clip Rudd, dressed like Steve Buscemi in the “how do you do, fellow kids?” meme — complete with cap and skateboard — advises Millennials to be safe and wear a mask. Why Rudd was picked to address this younger generation comes down to a misunderstanding.

“Cuoms asks me, he’s like, ‘Paul, you gotta help. What are you, like, 26?’”

Rudd, a somehow ageless 51, didn’t correct him. And so, it is his lot to stand before various greenscreen backdrops — from a violet-hued skyline with SNES-era graphics to a graffiti-mottled alleyway — while misusing already-outdated slang, telling the solidly Gen Z icon Billie Eilish (over the phone, where she sounds like a teacher from “Peanuts”) “I wanna stan you. You’re so my bae.”

The message, expressed through TikTok dances, double-necked guitar riffing and the wanton playing of a boombox, is simply to mask up and “yeet this virus.” The joke, while superficially simple, demands a closer read.

Much effort has been exhausted to make Rudd look like a generational imposter, and the intentional gaffes had to have been designed by those who know that they are false notes. Yet the aesthetics of the spot, while deliberately archaic and noisy, feed into a still relevant style of humor pioneered by Gen X and advanced by Millennials.

If you are familiar with Rudd’s sometime collaborators Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim and their regular editor Vic Berger, late of the website Super Deluxe and now of an endless stream of videos lampooning Trump, you recognize the trappings of this PSA. With it, we have reached the singularity and effectively killed the joke forever.

Heidecker, Wareheim and Berger cribbed the early-CG cringe of ‘90s public access shows and PSAs for their own anarchic ends on Adult Swim — often with a gleeful use of tinny electronic incidental music and gross-sounding Foley. In this Rudd-Cuomo teamup, we have an instance of the Adult Swim aesthetic returning to its original object of scorn: The pandering, over-produced PSA. The ad pretends that its outreach to young people is clumsy — that’s the point and also, in theory, its cool factor — and that makes the whole exercise even worse. The tactics long used to mock the stodgy and generationally tin-eared are now being used by those same establishment figures to appear hip.

Is it entertaining to see Rudd shout “vibe check” and appeal to the (now not-so-young) Millennial youth to protect their “dank squad” with PPE? Of course. But its target audience of Millennials can’t help but meet the announcement’s existence without the creep of our own fading youth.

I recall the day punk died: my father bought “American Idiot” on CD. I remember the first time a teacher attempted the “Soulja Boy” dance and, more recently, when a middle-aged coworker was heard to say “Yaaas kween” at a meeting. This too must I remember: the day Paul Rudd and the government of my home state used Bergeresque sights and sounds to communicate a dire public health message. It’s my Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.

PJ Grisar is the Forward’s culture reporter. He can be reached at [email protected].

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount