Arby's Savvy Salute to Jon Stewart

Now that Jon Stewart is signing off as host of The Daily Show, one of his long-time targets--fast-food marketer Arby's--has prepared a clever "thank you" video montage of his insults against its sandwiches.

The one-minute montage (which Arby's aired during a commercial break in The Daily Show) features Stewart making fun of Arby's in all kinds of ways.

It's positive (and self-deprecating) publicity for Arby's and a fun way to make the most of Jon Stewart's witty put-downs to reach an audience that appreciates irony and shuns outright or heavy-handed commercial promotion.

Search for "Arby's Jon Stewart" on Twitter and you'll see many links to Arby's montage, plus lots of comments in appreciation of the good-natured fun. The Arby's ad made the "top 5" of the week as it attracted an ever-larger audience. As Inc. says, you can fight--or you can join in the fun. Arby's chose fun. It hits just the right tone for the audience and the times--just right to light up the social media stratosphere with comments, too.