At first, the billboards in New York and Los Angeles declaring "Netflix Is a Joke" seemed defamatory. But they turned out to be a stunt, and a precursor to a larger campaign by Battery for the streaming service's comedy offerings.

Most Netflix viewers tune in for the dramas, so the commercial, which aired during the Emmy Awards, inserted comedians with standup shows on the platform (Chris Rock, Ellen DeGeneres, Dave Chappelle and more) into scenes from "Stranger Things," "The Crown," "Orange Is the New Black" and "House of Cards." (Think: Rock starts a prison riot, and Chappelle gets spooked by Millie Bobby Brown's Eleven.)

The campaign birthed a new Twitter handle, @NetflixIsAJoke, which has become the de facto social media mouthpiece for Netflix's comedy content.