“What, Me Worry?” MAD Magazine Comes To Snapchat

Snap and DC Entertainment are bring the iconic and irreverent humor of MAD Magazine to Snapchat.

This collaboration, which falls under a global partnership forged by Time Warner (now WarnerMedia) and Snap last year, will bring MAD content to Snapchatters seven days a week, beginning on Sept. 1.

MAD Magazine was The Onion of its era — an influential, satirical magazine that offered humorous commentary on the 20th Century and Cold War-era politics. Launched in the 1950s, it reached its peak circulation in the mid-1970s.

Now, MAD will seek it introduce its brand of satire (and its gap-toothed mascot, Alfred E. Neuman) to a new generation, offering commentary on contemporary politics and current events, along with classic and nostalgic MAD material, reimagined for Snapchat’s audience.

The project is being overseen by the creative duo of John Ficarra, the former MAD senior vice president and executive editor who serves as a creative advisor for DC Entertainment, and Peter Girardi, executive vice president of Blue Ribbon Content, the digital content studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group.

“We’ll be taking on sports, celebrities, politics, pop culture and anything else in the zeitgeist. Nothing is off the table because nothing has ever been off the table with MAD,” Ficarra said in a statement.

Ficarra and Girardi are longtime creative partners, teaming on the Mad animated series for Cartoon Network from 2010-2013. Girardi studied in college under inaugural MAD editor-in-chief Harvey Kurtzman.

“MAD Magazine had a big impact on me growing up and definitely formed my sense of humor,” said Girardi. “We are now bringing MAD’s unapologetic humor to new audience.”

In preparation for this launch, Snap’s content team has worked closely with the Blue Ribbon team to ensure that the MAD content is optimized for Snapchat’s vertical, fast-paced format and presented in the most relevant way to Snapchatters

“We can’t wait to see the classic work of iconic artists like Al Jaffee and Sergio Aragones and beloved franchises like Spy vs Spy reimagined for Snapchat,” Snap’s head of original content, Sean Mills, said in a statement. “The creative possibilities of combining the singular MAD sensibility with our mobile-native format are really exciting.”