First there was the Narnia rap. And now there is “Young Chuck Norris” — the latest “digital short” from Saturday Night Live, which attempts to capitalize on Norris’ new status as an Internet cult figure.

Oh, you didn’t know? (Don’t tell anybody; it just means you’re old.)

From HamptonRoads.com:

In a rational world, a stonefaced television star who has pretty much been off the airwaves for nearly five years would have faded away, exiled to syndication and infomercials.

But Chuck Norris, that butt-kicking, law-and-order, monosyllabic, martial-arts-practicing Texas Ranger, has become an Internet cult figure thanks to the efforts of websites such as CollegeHumor.com and the Conan O’Brien late-night show, which regularly shows clips from Norris’ now defunct TV show, “Walker, Texas Ranger.”

The resurgence in Norris’ popularity has spread like wildfire across the Internet, where otherwise normal people have been reporting Chuck Norris “facts” of Paul Bunyan-like proportions.

“Facts” like:

Chuck Norris frequently donates blood to the Red Cross. Just not his own.

There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.

And now we have SNL’s “Young Chuck Norris.” It’s not nearly as funny as the Narnia-inspired “Lazy Sunday,” but it’s still good buzz marketing for SNL.

Oh, and if you want to measure just how hot Chuck is, here’s the 90-day trend in blog mentions from Technorati. (Cool tool — and it can actually be used for business purposes, too.)

Technorati tags: Chuck Norris, PR, Public Relations, Marketing