"Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, and a social media expert walk into a bar…"

Sometimes we just need permission to laugh at ourselves. Permission granted.

EmergencyCompliment.com is just another example of why the internet is a strange, magical place. It's a single-serving site that provides compliments in those times of distress where you just need a pat on the back.

What's especially clever about this site is that behind all those neon colors and cleverly droll one-liners is the website's Society6 shop. Click on "Thanks! I feel better." to get to the shop and order prints. 

I can spend a good chunk of my lunch break reading new entries -- it's almost a Twitter/Tumblr obsession rolled into one site. If you're also a fan of single-serving sites, check out Go Art Director Go for tiny morsels of encouragement and LOLs. 

With today's fierce competition in the reality television singing competition category, it has been hard to to declare a show I’m dedicated to or prefer over the other. Between “American Idol,” “The X-Factor,” and “The Voice,” there are various elements that make one more interesting than the other. And as I learned at the #SXSW Top Chef Panel, reality television programs are now making it a focus to keep the audience engaged beyond the one-hour programming to 24 hours, seven days a week.

“The Voice,” currently in its second season on NBC, has successfully taken an accidental character that gained popularity via online conversation and ran with it. Meet ”Purrfect the Cat.” Purrfect first appeared on the season premiere during a testimonial with owner Cee-Lo (pictured above) and instantly became a hit (mostly because of its humorously silent nature).

Purrfect the Cat now has its own official Facebook page (11,684 likes) and Twitter handle (39,680 followers) where it regularly engages with fans and shares unique content, including personal photos. Purrfect even live Tweets during the show, making witty remarks toward contestants and even the judges (including owner CeeLo). Purrfect successfully carries on the same humorous personality fans who generated it presumed. See a few additional examples of this cat’s silly content below:

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1. It’s a love story
2. The Wilson brothers aren’t in it
3. It’s Anderson’s return to live action film
4. The (sample) soundtrack is beautiful
5. New talent from Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward
6. Old talent from Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and Harvey Keitel
7. It’s coming out in less than 6 months

Regardless of your current opinion on Wes Anderson, any fan, new or old, is bound to find a sense of glee and excitement from the first trailer for Moonrise Kingdom. Who wouldn't enjoy a love story about two rebellious children, exploring the wilderness together and creating a storm of worry in their small New England town?

Brands can gain some insight from this feature. Anderson is most famous for the fact that he only directs a movie every three to four years, making quality over quantity one of his main staples. When it comes to content, or even overall campaign strategy, it's important to remember that if you don't have something worth saying, it's better not to say anything at all.

A secondary piece of wisdom in Anderson's spaced out productions is the art of building anticipation. Fans are willing to wait years to see one of his new films, and it's almost a guarantee that each film will eclipse the last due to old fans initiating new ones. When something's almost too good to share, that's when consumers are most likely to indoctrinate others.

It could be considered one of the worst beers that somehow still remains palatable but, like it or not, Old Milwaukee is a brand that goes beyond taste and taps into the souls of many Midwesterners.

“This is one of the quintessential old school American adjunct brews. It isn't great, but it is definitely drinkable.”

– FlannelAvenger, beeradvocate.com

“All that subliminal programming when I was a kid really paid off. OM is my favorite American Lager. Just a hint of hops, clean mouthfeel, goes down easy. This is a true American staple.”

– vikingstout, beeradvocate.com

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone without a favorite beer that gives them that warm fuzzy feeling inside, and tapping into that innate longing for comfort is a stroke of pure genius. Little would Old Milwaukee (seemingly) know that this insight would come not from an agency, but from a comedian who’s notorious for his faux-vertising antics on SNL.

Ferrell's decision to film and distribute the ads in Davenport is a solid tribute to the city who loves some "Old Mud." His subsequent commercials filmed in Terre Haute also offer a bit of a nod to the heartland of American culture. These free-of-charge, low-budget videos were all the idea and production of Ferrell himself, and even though Old Milwaukee is missing an opportunity by not having a YouTube channel, they're still creating quite a bit of buzz through the classic form of "You've gotta see this, it's hilarious," sharing. (Thanks @sarahleighbrich!)