Truth and Advertising

Plot

Kyle gets called to the principal's office, but Mr. Mackey is there instead. Mackey says PC Principal has gone crazy and is on a hunger strike with his frat brothers, and that both Jimmy and Leslie have disappeared. Jimmy later explains that advertisements have gotten more advanced, eventually taking human form, and that Leslie is one of them. At dinner, Randy tells his family they should move because South Park "sucks" now, but doesn't say why.

Afterwards, he tells Sharon that the town's revitalization made living there too expensive, so he took out a second mortgage on their house. In the newsroom, Jimmy confesses to the newsmen that he's attracted to Leslie even though she's an ad. They remind him that ads are designed to lure and control people. Jimmy wants to run the story in the school newspaper, but the newsmen tell him to figure out what the ads are planning instead.

At school, Stan shows Kyle a newspaper clipping saying the principal sent Jimmy and Leslie on a Disney Cruise as a reward. The boys don't believe it, since Jimmy was replaced as newspaper editor by Nathan. They go to the school newsroom, but Nathan acts clueless to mislead them while secretly talking to the ads on his computer.

Critical reception

IGN's Max Nicholson gave the episode a 7.2 out of 10, calling it "a little sluggish, especially in terms of the main plot" but noting that the boys' sudden transitions to consumerist hotspots were funny. Dan Caffrey of The A.V. Club rated the episode a B, describing it as a chapter of season 19 that relies on cryptic intentions, shifting allegiances, and general confusion among characters trying to unravel who is behind the recent madness.