Nintendo is trying a bold new advertising campaign with Community star Joel McHale. It’s an advertisement that acknowledges how advertisements are better when the viewer doesn’t know it’s an advertisement. All of this meta-level product placement is part of a new ad for their 3DS portable gaming console.

Joel McHale knows that advertisements have to feel “organic” and “homegrown” in order to succeed on a viral level. In order to give it that viral quality, you have to know how the internet works. And according to him, sneezing pandas, mario references, half-naked models, and ball kicks are the best way to ensure that people view the video as a viral sensation as opposed to an ad.

The “making of” video for the upcoming Joel McHale 3DS ad is actually so good, it could probably just…hey wait a minute – what the hell just happened here?

Some YouTubers have remarked on the different feel of this advert as opposed to some of the more “family-oriented” ones seen on television as of late. The addition of the nut shot and the models definitely make it feel different than the family-playing-wii-golf-together commercials. This kind of advertising could be a preview of what we might see for Nintendo’s new gaming console, the Wii U. Although there has been some dispute about the actual specs of the upcoming device, it’s been said from the original announcement onward that Nintendo was looking to snag a more serious subset of gamers with the Wii U.

As far as the Nintendo 3DS goes, in February it became the fastest selling console in Japan, hitting the 5 million sold mark in just 52 weeks.