The episode mocked the AOL website for providing trivial and unimportant news , in particular , irrelevant animal stories . Pierce 's adherence to his cult , which rips him off by selling him the lava lamp and telling him his mother was vaporized in it , is a reference to Scientology . Professor Duncan taking over the anthropology class despite knowing nothing about the subject matter was a knock on the American education system . Annie and Britta made a diorama of the BP oil spill to raise funds . Annie also mentioned the earthquake in Haiti
BP oil spill
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The Psychology of Letting Go