TBS and DumbDumb Sign Subaru to Comedy Video Deal

The actors (from left to right) Jonathan Banks, Christopher Masterson and Brandon Johnson are the stars of “Call It a Wash, a comedy video sponsored by Subaru that is the first fruits of a collaboration between TBS and the company DumbDumb.

An innovative effort in the realm of sponsored comedy videos - yucks for bucks, in industry parlance - has found its initial sponsor.

Subaru of America is the first marketer to sign up to work with the team of TBS and DumbDumb, which was formed in May to produce sponsored comedy videos to run online, on Web sites like tbs.com, as well as on related TBS mobile, app and social properties.

A video for Subaru, “Call It a Wash,” features two familiar television faces, Christopher Masterson of “Malcolm in the Middle” and Jonathan Banks of “Breaking Bad” and “Wiseguy.”

Another star of the video is the 2013 Subaru XV Crosstrek, which is central to the plot. That is because the video is an example of what is known as branded entertainment, in which products and brands become intrinsic aspects of the plots of videos, television shows and movies.

Mr. Masterson plays the owner of the 2013 Subaru and the future son-in-law of the character played by Mr. Banks. Brandon Johnson plays a worker at a car wash, which is the setting for an aggressive round of one-upmanship between the relatives-to-be.

The agreement between TBS, part of the Turn er Broadcasting System unit of Time Warner, and DumbDumb was part of the “upfront” presentation by TBS before the start of the 2012-13 television season. The financial terms of the deal with Subaru of America, part of Fuji Heavy Industries, are not being disclosed.

DumbDumb is a company that specializes in creating and producing humorous Web video clips for advertisers. It was founded by the comic actors Will Arnett and Jason Bateman in partnership with Electus, the multimedia studio led by Ben Silverman.

In addition to appearing on tbs.com, “Call It a Wash” can also be seen on the TBS mobile and tablet apps, the TBS mobile Web site and the TBS YouTube channel. TBS will promote “Call It a Wash” on its cable channel during “The Big Bang Theory” and on sibling Web sites like teamcoco.com and adultswim.com.

The video will also be featured on the Facebook fan page of Subaru of America.

Stuart Elliott has been the adve rtising columnist at The New York Times since 1991. Follow @stuartenyt on Twitter and sign up for In Advertising, his weekly e-mail newsletter.