TurboTax Video Contest Taxes the Funny Bone

“What’s the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist only takes the skin.”

That’s just one of the questionable jokes shared through TaxLaugh.com, a campaign currently running to promote Intuit’s TurboTax software system.

With the tagline “Comedy is hard, TurboTax is easy,” the campaign is managed by online marketing platform company Brickfish and challenges would-be comedians to post humorous videos involving tax tips. Viewers of the site are invited to vote on their favorite routines as well as post the clips on their own Web sites, or share them via e-mail or on social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.

The challenge itself is hosted by comedian Jay Mohr, and runs through March 31st. As part of the two pronged contest, comedians who submit videos have a chance to win $10,000 and be Mohr’s opening comedy act when he performs live in Southern California, while the viewers who share and promote videos will have a shot at $1,000, a Flip video camcorder and a trip to watch Mohr’s show.

The contest is promoted on YouTube and on the Brickfish.com site. The Brickfish platform allows for the videos to be tracked as they are shared by viewers, and results to be shown in real time, according to Nichole Goodyear, Brickfish’s vice president of operations and co-founder.

Contest participants can see which videos are being shared with the widest audience, while Intuit is provided with analytics on who is viewing and commenting on the videos, she said.

This story has been updated to correct prize information.