Copywriting's Great Pun Debate: Punderful or Punfortunate?

To pun or not to pun? That is the question that we've put forward to some of the industry’s copywriting experts. 

A seemingly never-ending debate full of impassioned viewpoints from both sides, this particular branch of wordplay walks a precarious line between clever and cringe. At best, a punny twist of linguistic genius can give a campaign the creativity and memorability it desperately needs. At worst... well, it doesn't bear thinking about. The forced, nonsensical and unnecessary pun can elicit a groan that lasts millennia, and a visceral eye-roll capable of blinding even the most stoic among us.

To discuss the art of striking this balance, and share their unique punderstanding of this technique's pros and cons in advertising, copywriting experts from across the world spoke with LBB's Ben Conway. 

Vikki Ross

Brand, TOV and copy consultant

Wordplay. It gives copy a good pun for your money.

Puns make less mean much, much more. They make copy quick. Slick. Stick them in slogans to tell a long story in a short line, like Virgin Atlantic's 'See the World Differently' by Lucky Generals. It's first-class copywriting. A brand purpose, a product benefit and a call to action all neatly packed into just four words. Words that work. 

It’s not easy to go in all puns blazing. Hell, it’s not always intentional. Playing with words isn’t in the brief but is in the process. And when all is said and pun, we’ve made a message more meaningful and memorable. Write? 

Please handle puns responsibly:

• Don’t go off brand.
  
• Don’t use them if they’re meaningless.
• Don’t let them get lost in translation. 

Some of my favourite examples of puns in advertising are from: Virgin Atlantic, Apple, Fisher Price, B&Q, American Airlines, LEGO and Nike.

Owen Lee

Chief creative officer, FCB London

‘Puns are fun’ a friend of mine who I went to ad school with used to say. And he even used to change boring poster ads near our college into funny puns in the dead of night with the use of the college photocopier. He has since gone on to write some iconic advertising for some of Britain’s best-loved brands (none of it puns by the way), so he shall remain nameless.

Puns are indeed fun. Ask anyone who doesn’t work in advertising to come up with an idea for a brand and they tend to have a hilarious time coming up with more and more elaborate puns. That’s because we’ve all grown up with ‘groaners’, as we used to call them, from local trades calling themselves 'Tree Wise Men', 'Surelock Homes' and 'Mowsart', to 'More Reasons to Shop at Morrisons'.

But the problem with puns is that they sound cheap and easy, and people tend to laugh along with the gag rather than remembering what the brand has to say.

I grew up in an industry where puns, exclamation marks and jingles were persona non grata in the best advertising circles. But then, relatively recently, Just Eat proved us all wrong about jingles and of course, every now and then a pun comes along that’s too wonderful to ignore. Take Virgin’s ‘BA doesn’t give a Shiatsu’ for example. Or my favourite from our Chicago office, ‘Ship my pants’ for Kmart which was not only brilliantly memorable and funny, it also won a Gold Effie. So maybe puns aren’t just fun after all.

Anete Thomas

Copywriter, Cheil MEA

In a cluttered world filled with advertising, standing out is key. Among the endless stream of content out there, a fine-tuned pun has the power to break through the noise and grab your attention like a baby's fist.

It's brain candy that can add humour, character, cleverness, and depth to a brand's messaging. They aren't just a dance with words; they're like a mini mental workout, inviting and entertaining perceptive readers.

Puns invite participation, creating a two-way conversation. It doesn't matter what medium you're writing for; puns can help brands sound less commercial, making them memorable, stand out, and leave a lasting impression on consumers.

Remember KFC's 'FCK' campaign? Where other brands might have chickened out, they came up with something brain-lickin' good.

For copywriters, it's easier said than done: one should think outside the box, play with language, and come up with creative new ways to express ideas, simplifying complexity while maintaining clarity.

There's a thin line, though, where the balance can tip towards the cringe side. Needless to say, brands should avoid this route by all means. That's where the real question lies for us copywriters: how do we write it right without brands getting pun-ished?

In a nutshell, puns can add some flavour and crunch to your brand's messaging. Just don't go nuts with it.

Helen Laird

Copywriter, Continuous - From Uniform

As a language and #copysafari enthusiast, I'll admit my appreciation for punslingers. When executed skilfully, puns are a testament to the versatility and richness of language. A well-timed pun, like 'Marks & snitches' from Aldi's Twitter beef, Daft Punk-inspired 'Feta, harder, breakfaster and stronger', romance-ready 'Waitroses' and Tesco's 'Go in all buns glazing' help elevate mundane products and moments into something eye-catching, memorable, and even iconic.

Clever wordsmithing aside, it's crucial to filter any word-wielding with a cultural lens. 'Go in all buns glazing' is a tasty treat for Brits but would inevitably leave American audiences hot, cross and buttered.

In the sociocultural bubble, we've always turned to wordplay and puns such as, 'when life gives you lemons, make lemonade' as powerful communication tools to bring levity in moments of hardship. Looking to the robotic realm of creativity, even the best AI is no match for a clever copywriter... or even an average one. It's a skill that - for now - is uniquely human (phew).

Andy Segal

Executive creative director, Hardhat

Bruce Springsteen once sang, “Baby, I was born to pun.” His manager forced him to change it. But I never would’ve. I’m from Polish heritage, where ‘pun’ means ‘Mister.’ So yeah, I was literally born to pun. 

Now, to those who say you can’t pun in ads, let me set things straight for those can’ts. Firstly, puns allow you to swear. In fun ways. Kogan.com’s brand platform, ‘clickin’ awesome’ gave the brand a new cheeky attitude. And for our client Superhero, we gave our competition, 'a kick up the ASX'.

And unlike dad jokes, puns go farther. They allow you to breathe life into idioms. And when people recognise a saying, it resonates with them because of familiarity bias. The Economist did this brilliantly with gems like, 'Great Minds Like A Think' and 'E = IQ2'.

And if you still think they’re pungent, let me mansplain the most punbelievable way to pun. The portmanteau. And chillax, it classifies as a pun, I checked Wikipedia. 

When you’ve got a pun in your holster, it can be a weapon. Just please, don’t be trigger happy, or it could hurt your reputation. One bad headline can be a life sentence.

Brian L. Perkins

Director/creative director, Where The Buffalo Roam

Look: in the real world, puns are the worst. A stand-up comedian who made puns an integral part of the act would get booed off stage immediately. People who bust puns out socially often get outright booed to their face. And rightly so. Puns are forced, desperate, and outdated. They make people uncomfortable. Puns have no place in modern society… except in advertising.

Why? Because 95% of advertising is filled with impossible-to-care-about jargon and narcissistic, overpromising humblebrags. In this desert of meaningless brandspeak, puns are an oasis of humanity. Their dorky lameness reads as relatable humility. And just as importantly: they’re punchy. They don’t waste my time. As a human and consumer, I’d much rather hear quick, lame jokes from a nerdy try-hard than lengthy odes to brand pillars and product features from an arrogant marketing team drowning in its own Kool-Aid.

So, if you tell me your product is 'wincredible' in person, I’ll make careful note to avoid talking to you in the future. But tell it to me in an ad and I’ll think, 'Nice. At least they didn’t tell me about their bold and authentic cloud-based sales lead automation for enterprise with real-time, no-code mobile management capabilities'.

Jody Bufkin

Senior copywriter, Havas Chicago

Puns are like cilantro. They’re fresh, tangy, and some people absolutely abhor them. And like cilantro, a dash of punditry can elevate the flavour profile of your copy - but too much, and you’re dining on dad jokes. So, it’s important you stick to the Pundamentals.

• First thought, best thought. You’ll never get back the time you wasted working on a pun. So, disregard your gut, just write it down and get back to the real work - not writing puns. How much thought do you think went into 'Happy Honda Days'?
  
• Some puns work. Most puns don’t. Like dogs, puns are bad at most jobs, but there are a few jobs that puns excel at - like taglines. Just look at The Dollar Shave Club’s tag: 'Shave time. Shave money'.
• Be more funny than punny. A good pun is a bad pun because it’s too clever, and a bad pun is the best pun because it’s just so hilariously bad. So, when you’re expecting haha’s, but get ah’s, it means the copy is overpun.

So, that’s the pundown on puns. Don’t be afraid to sprinkle some puns over your copy, but make sure your audience has a taste for it first.

Lee Tan

Founding partner, Motel

If you ask people who don’t work in our industry to write an ad, from nine years old to 90, chances are they’ll come up with a horrendous pun. Which is quite odd considering most budding creatives are weaned off the dreaded pun before they’re out of their copywriting onesies. 

But the fact most people reach straight for their pun pencil suggests that, when it comes to advertising, puns are what they remember. And making memories is what our industry is all about. So puns are powerful. But with great power comes great responsibility. It’s almost too easy to write a bad pun. Just ask that nine or 90 year old. But a great pun is like gold dust.

A poster telling us ‘Labour Isn’t Working’ tapped into a nation’s mood and toppled a government. A campaign telling us to ‘Ship our pants’ probably landed a retail shipping message better than any other idea could have. ‘Drink Responsibly’ was such a great pun waiting to happen, someone had to go make a beer called ‘Responsibly’. ‘Compare the Meerkat’ was such an ownable pun, it seared a price comparison site into our brains even though it didn’t make any sense.

So I’m for any technique that makes lasting memories. So by all means, do pun. But just make sure it’s a bloody good one.

Curro Piqueras

Executive creative director, DUDE London

A barber shop called 'Barber Streisand', a bar called 'Tequila Mockingbird', or a plumbing company called 'Flush Gordon'. Puns are everywhere, so why is it so hard to find them in good advertising? Maybe one of the reasons is that it feels too accessible, too easy. If the rest of the mortals do it, why should we?

As creatives, we don’t like 'easy', which sometimes makes us snobbish and detached from reality. We are not here exclusively to sell, entertain and create memorable stories. We are also here to leave a mark and create timeless brands. Can puns help us in our mission?

Maybe. Ultimately, they are just another tool we can use to create comedy, like tone, pace or casting. But they are slightly more dangerous. Used correctly, it can turn your ad into pop culture. If done wrongly, the ad could turn into a bad meme.

Checha Agost Carreno

Co-founder and CCO, Founders

I’m pretty sure that if you ask my colleagues about this topic, 90% of them will tell you that you should avoid pun ads. They will say that it’s either old school or kind of senseless.

I’d say that puns could be a very powerful weapon.

There’s a phrase that says: 'If it’s stupid, it’s probably good'. Stupidity helps breakdown barriers, and it's sticky and memorable. Today, more than ever, the hardest goal for our industry is to get our target’s attention. And puns have something that helps us get that attention and memorability. Since stupidity has something that I call: 'The a-ha moment'.

How does it work?

When you are exposed to an ad that has wordplay, if it’s well played, it can be catchy and fun, since your mind is reading something that you are familiar with, but with a twist. That’s the 'a-ha moment'. And, if that twist includes the brand, it could be even more effective.

One of my favourite wordplays is 'FCK' for KFC. At first sight, you’d say that it’s not a pun, but the logic behind it is the same.

In the past, I had the chance to work on a campaign for Huggies diapers and we came up with a new territory for the brand: 'Don’t worry, be Huggies'. According to the client, it was the most successful campaign in the brand’s history.