| Using Humor In Advertising |
 |
| "Does humor work in advertising?" A strange question. Especially when posed by an advertising copywriter such as myself who specializes in writing humorous commercial scripts; a scriptwriter who has won numerous awards for writing and producing humorous commercial scripts; and a comedy writer who also loves to write humorous commercial scripts. My good friend, teacher and longtime associate John S. Straiton (ex-Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Canada) states: "Humor is the Venus flytrap of advertising. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t." Sometimes I agree. Sometimes I don't. I agree that humorous advertising is entertaining. "It titillates the intellect. Using humor in advertising also reduces the guilt-feelings of writers and producers who feel they are prostituting their ‘art’. Humor civilizes the brute advertising for the intelligent executive; humor is much admired among civil servants who see it as the essence of good communications because they are so often accused of being humorless. And since government advertising is not accountable, a frightening amount of it attempts to be funny." Most advertising agency people are convinced that humorous commercials are easy to do. "Let's use humor!" is the second bright idea, (sex being the first), of the young or inexperienced advertising copywriter: "Let's show we don't take ourselves too seriously." However, humorous commercials have a sneaky Catch-22: the funnier they are, the sooner they begin to irritate. Who wants to hear the same joke twenty-five times? (That's why people say, "Stop me if you've heard this one...") Funny commercials have another inherent booby trap - many people simply have no sense of humor. In research, when we show what we think are funny commercials to consumers, the response is all too often "Stupid." or "Childish." In most major North American cities, about half of the people come from another country. How can major advertisers who refuse to risk two top-level executives in the same corporate jet gamble so casually with advertising dollars by using humor? What percent of the population is not amused by a lame joke or one that doesn't translate culturally? Which funny idea will appeal to a wide audience? Who knows? Professional comedians sometimes strike an audience that is utterly unresponsive. Or, they find they have to discard jokes that they find hilarious but that audiences ignore. And if you're marketing a product or service to mature people (those seniors who hate being called "seniors") - forget dazzling them with production values and "creativity". They've seen it all before. They want facts. Benefits. Value. Unfortunately, there is little research on humor in advertising. Humor is a living thing which, once dissected, dies. It's amazing that advertisers allow so much of their money to be gambled on such an intangible. To avoid wasting a single dollar of an advertising client's budget, at least every commercial using humor should be tested against a straight version. On the other hand, there is a kind of advertising that shows a sense of humor, a sort of charm, a likable, amusing personality. This kind of commercial can put sales through the roof. This kind of commercial is rare, difficult to write well, and even more difficult to survive the heavy hands of producers, directors, and actors. The Doyle Dane Bernbach agency used to do it superbly for Volkswagen. No lame or weak punch lines, no puns that most of your ethnic consumers won't understand, and no jingles. |
 |
 |