Art Imitates I.R.S., or Vice Versa

Yet another Internal Revenue Service training video has surfaced, this one a thinly veiled parody of the hit television show “Mad Men.”

In the noirish video, an actor appears to echo the character of Don Draper, the besuited advertising executive of the show who dreams up campaigns for cigarettes, airlines and bras. Shot in black and white, with a horn-heavy soundtrack, the four-and-a-half minute video reaches deep for art-world metaphors to describe how I.R.S. employees can assist confused taxpayers.

“Whether you are a conductor guiding a symphony in a concert, or an artist creating a breathtaking work of art, or a museum curator preserving the archives of history, you are an essential artisan who makes a difference every day,” the dark-haired figure intones. “Our customer service is an incredible work of art. Your film directors encourage you to give your best performance.”

The undated production, labeled “IRS Training Video,” comes amid growing scrutiny by Congress of the beleaguered agency, now nearly a month into a scandal that began with accusations that it flagged conservative tax-exempt groups for special scrutiny. Since then, the fallout has turned to a Treasury watchdog report on wasteful spending on conferences and videos of questionable purpose.

Previous I.R.S. training and leadership videos have included parodies of “Gilligan’s Island” and “Star Trek” and a clip of employees in the Small Business/Self Employed unit performing the Cupid Shuffle, a line dance. (In the latter, a frustrated I.R.S. employee bemoans her clumsy underlings, saying, “It’s so challenging to teach them, even though the moves are the directions to the dance!”)

On Thursday, Faris Fink, the commissioner of the agency’s small business and self-employed division, told lawmakers at a congressional hearing that he regretted having played the character Spock in the “Star Trek” parody, which cost more than $50,000 to make. “It’s embarrassing. I apologize,” Mr. Fink said.

In the latest video, the Don Draper-like figure declares at one point that “we, as administrative support employees, are the curators of customer service” and pauses twice to introduce Leslye Baronich, at the time the agency’s director of field assistance in the wage and investment division. Ms. Baronich, described last fall in an I.R.S. publication as the acting director of the earned income tax credit program, does not appear in the video.

An I.R.S. spokesman said he was not able to comment immediately.

The I.R.S. has long referred to its efforts to assist and guide taxpayers as “customer service,” a concept first heavily promoted by a former commissioner, Mark Everson, and embraced by the previous acting commissioner, Douglas Shulman, who was forced out last month over the scandal involving the tax-exemption applications. The National Taxpayer, an independent position within the I.R.S., routinely faults the agency for delays and misinformation in its customer service unit.

The “Mad Men”-themed video does not appear on the agency’s YouTube channel, which was started in April 2011. Instead, it was uploaded to the site by Michael R. Davis, the professional actor hired to play “Mr. Draper.” Mr. Davis, whose stage roles include Danny in “Grease” and the dentist in “Little Shop of Horrors,” has made films for other government agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to a Web site promoting a short film in which he appears. He could not immediately be reached for comment.