Rick Mercer nails BlackBerry revival, taunts “smug” Apple users

Canadian satirist Rick Mercer has not spared the woes of Research in Motion when mining for comedy gold. But his latest piece has different target; Apple.

Newfoundlander Rick Mercer, who might be explained to Americans as the Canadian Steven Colbert, could not be described as a “homer”.

Mercer, who came to the attention of Canadians through the hilarious, Halifax-based sketch comedy “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” is not a big believer in sacred cows. In his own show, The Rick Mercer Report, he has proved fearless in lampooning everything from slippery politicians to our perennial dissatisfaction with our telecoms, to the woes of Research in Motion.

To that end, Mercer’s knife has been sharp. Take his recent parody ad for the “Blackberry Outàge” which “does everything an iPhone can and conveniently goes out of service in Africa and Europe, occasionally, saving you big money on roaming fees.” Or his swipe at the Canada Pension Plan’s ownership of Research in Motion shares, while they were plummeting.

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But Mercer’s latest take on RIM nails the current zeitgeist, which is to say that Apple, not RIM, is the target. The latest RMR skit profiles the “BlackBerry Reversal of Fortune App”, which “allows you to track how much RIM stock is up and Apple stock has crashed since last fall.” The app, narrates Mercer, “also features “SmugWipe” an option that lets you watch the smirk disappear from an iPhone user’s face.

Here’s the full mock ad.