Cracked got bought - essentially it was flipped, like you'd flip a house. For almost the entirety of it's existence, it was seen as store-brand MAD. It's what you bought if MAD was sold out. And then Demand Media grabbed it up, turned it into the internet's List-O-Matic, and the editors placed in charge were smart enough to look around the internet and grab up some of the funniest essayists they noticed from blogs, boards, whatever. Now Cracked is one of the most looked at websites on the internet, and MAD is essentially an animated studio hustling for youtube hits like every other sketch comedy troupe online.
MAD is hugely influential to large number of current comedians, as it's basically the young smartass' guide to satire w/ training wheels. It's not the sharpest, pointiest stick poking at the establishment, but it sparked a lot of people into learning how to exercise those muscles. You graduated from MAD to National Lampoon.
The name still carries some cache based solely on it's tradition, reputation, and the 4 or 5 decent years it had as a sketch show on Fox. I don't think it's irrelevant YET - but it's probably on its way.
