Don’t tell me you’re funny, make me laugh – me on every dating app. Ah, jokes – gotta love ‘em. I’ve done a stand-up comedy course and performed a few times. There’s no worse anxiety than the moment before you step on stage. And no greater feeling than making hundreds of people crack up. It’s high stakes, high reward. Much like the use of humour in advertising. Get it wrong and your beloved brand becomes cringe or cancelled. Get it right and you’ve played a blinder.
The first book I read on advertising was John Hegarty’s ‘Turning Intelligence Into Magic’ where he explains that if you make people laugh, they relax and enjoy your message. A point I made very clearly in a recent pitch (to absolutely no avail, but we keep the faith). Advertising requires something from the consumer. You’re asking for eyeballs. Emotion. And ultimately, cold, hard cash. So if you make people laugh you’ve actually given them something, which warms them up to your brand. It’s a no-brainer. Well, it’s actually quite the full-brainer, as you’ve got to find a way to get ‘em giggling, which is both on brief and in tone. It’s hard. It’s easy to be serious. Or miss the mark. Or all of the above. But I think it’s very important we keep trying.
NOT – I hasten to add – through the hackneyed medium of ye olde April Fool. When I started as a junior copywriter, one of the first conceptual briefs I cut my teeth on was an April Fools’ gag for O2. I sweated all weekend and nearly had it pulled at the last minute. Thankfully it went live and at least five people mildly chuckled. But based on a sample size of one (hey, I’m not a strategist) I really think we’ve done these to death. They’re either forced or completely missable. So save your best gags for your best friends. Channel my mother and ring your children up at work to say you’re sorry to hear about the redundancies. Balance cups of water on doors – there’s never enough of that. But leave humour in advertising to where it’s not trying too hard. In a suitable channel, at a suitable time.
Give it some thought. We’re not saving the world. We might at least give someone a laugh. So why did the copywriter agree to change the headline? It was April 1st.
Humour. It’s not for everyone.
