What the heck is branded entertainment?

I thought this was an interesting article from Mashable on an emerging advertising platform called "branded advertising." The idea is that by getting celebrities (mostly comedians) to write and perform skits that incorporate your company or product, you can "create social media chatter and skew the brands younger." As an added bonus, the piece contains ten hilarious but ridiculous examples of such branded advertising efforts. How effective do you think they are?