Making Fun of Stars' Names
By Ransom Riggs

Over the last few years, we've seen a new trend in celebrity public relations: gently making fun of yourself. There are perhaps no better examples than the 2008 primary and presidential campaign stops at SNL by Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Barack Obama and even Sarah Palin, all of whom put on a good-natured face whilst Amy Pohler & company made them look silly. But there's another way to make fun of yourself -- one that's more akin to elementary schoolyard taunts than high-brow political jabs -- and that's making fun of your own name. If anything, it takes even more good-natured humility to poke fun at something so intimately tied to your own brand -- and as a celebrity, what else have you got? -- and risk being hounded by the insults you leveled at yourself for the remainder of your (possibly short) career. Here are a few brave souls that took the plunge.
Jon Hamm's John Ham
In this now-famous SNL sketch, Mad Men star Jon Hamm hawks a meaty treat you can eat while perched on a toilet seat.
Peter Sarsgaard's SARS Guard
Remember SARS? After this SNL sketch, actor Peter Sarsgaard may never live to forget it.
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Bacon'd! with Kevin Bacon
In this Funnyordie exclusive, Kevin Bacon stars in his own
Punk'd
-style prank show -- except the pranks are deeply, deeply lame.
BACON'D! from Kevin Bacon
The Kevin Bacon Movie Club
While not making fun of his name per se, this sketch makes fun at Kevin Bacon's legacy -- of being in every movie ever made. (And of being ... kind of a desperate loser?) This could be an example of a star poking too much fun at himself.