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Back in the good old days of the web—say, circa April of 2007—when one's CAA-backed, Will Ferrell-supported comedy video-sharing site had an amusing clip starring an attention-grabbing A-list talent one wished would go "viral," one simply posted it and let the internets work their magic, confident that endlessly forwarded links would efficiently deliver their work to the eyeballs of bored employees across the globe. Now, however, we live in far more complicated times, when newly retained PR firms dare not leave anything to chance, as evidenced by this e-mail invitation enlisting the help of the "internet press" to turn Bill Murray into Funny or Die's next drunken, swearing baby:

FUNNY OR DIE INVITES YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN A SPECIAL INTERNET PRESS PREVIEW OF "FCU: FACT CHECKERS UNIT" AN UPCOMING FUNNYORDIE.COM EXCLUSIVE WEB SHORT STARRING BILL MURRAY, THURSDAY, SEPT. 6

We'll spare you the rest of the press release, but there's also a phone interview scheduled with the video's creators for the following day, during which they'll "discuss the web short and their experience working with Bill Murray." Welcome to the age of the inter-junket! Unfortunately, the virtual nature of the two-day event doesn't afford bloggers the opportunity to gorge themselves at a free buffet, bitch about the unfriendliness of the talent, and speculate about whether those clever Funny or Die folks staged Murray's recent drunken golf-cart arrest in Sweden as a masterful publicity stunt, though we suppose these traditional meatspace press tour activities can be simulated through instant messenger and a trip to the fridge. We're sure that by the clip's official debut on Monday, all this pre-release buzz will deliver opening day numbers not seen since the adorably crapulent Pearl first called deadbeat tenant Ferrell a bitch.