Why Humour Is Worth the Risk in Advertising

Undeniably, the subject of comedy in advertising has been a hot topic of late. As brands and marketers look to past moments of disaster, the line one must walk to avoid public humiliation has become ever thinner. Yet, those that do toe it well have managed to land some of the biggest, most memorable campaigns of the past few years, so evidently, the potential is there. 

Of course, this is only reinforced by the Cannes Lions itself this year. Consider the fact that  the humour category has been introduced to the Cultural & Context sections, in order to celebrate the art of humour in branded communications. The literal brief made it clear that “work entered into this category should use wit and satire to provide amusement and create memorable, laughter-inducing connections with audiences.” 

Given the significance of this, a group of esteemed chief creative officers gathered on the LBB & Friends, hosted by the company’s very own EMEA strategic editorial lead, Zhenya Tsenzharyk. Consisting of Neo Mashigo of M&C Saatchi Group South Africa, Droga5’s Scott Bell, Nadja Lossgott of AMV BBDO, DDB New Zealand’s Gary Steele, and Orchard Creative’s David Kolbusz (who incidentally showed up dressed as a mime, and expressed thoughts via a whiteboard throughout the panel), this acclaimed assortment represented some of the brightest creativity from all corners of the globe. 

Kicking things off with a general discussion of the nature of comedy, Neo was first to reply, noting – to much general consensus – that comedy is inherently tricky. “For something to be funny, sometimes, we have to make someone else less happy. For the majority to be happy, there must be someone else that they kinda like laughing at, otherwise, the joke is not that funny,” he explained. “Unfortunately, brands don’t like that thing. They don't like offending anyone, so I think that's why most brands stay away from the risk.”

Tagging in, Gary added that in many ways, brands are just scared, especially given that comedy “takes a bit of balls” to do – an important distinction from the fact that some creatives assume that brands entirely undervalue the category. “It’s just really hard to laugh at your own brand, unless it’s inherently true of the brand,” he noted. 

But, herein lies the immense potential that, when tapped into properly, can do wonders on a marketing level. As Scott Bell pointed out, “any good idea has tension at the core of it”. Ergo, comedy is no different, and this means committing to saying out loud what other people might be afraid to say is hilarious, provided the game of risk evaluation is played properly and tactfully. 

“We want to be funny, but not haha funny, or funny with a wink,” he continued. “I think brands want to like the idea of embracing comedy but not going into comedy, and that’s where the real danger zone is. It’s either funny… or it’s not. And there’s nothing more depressing and terrible than unfun.”

Having remained quiet up until this point, Nadja took the opportunity to provide her own take on brands’ fears – that being that when funny goes wrong, per Scott’s point, you fall a lot harder. Nevertheless, she asserted that having an extreme fear of funny is “just nuts”, because by doing that, you’re just cutting off a complete arm of something you can leverage for your brand. 

With all that in mind, this begs the question of how comedy actually gets done in an effective manner. And, as the jury believed, it all starts with the realisation that to do it well, one must go all the way. 

“I think the first question you should ask yourself is have you committed, as a brand, to being that type of brand?,” noted Neo. “This is important, because you have to be consistent with it – you can’t sometimes do it.”

Should this not be heeded, brands put themselves at extreme risk of the audience being confused by the tone, which isn’t great for overall outcome. But, equally important is the challenge that comes with being consistently funny, which forces consistent, high level output in what clearly is a tricky space to navigate. 

So, what’s the best course of action? As it turns out, layering the work with different types of humour is a nice way to get consistent results. 

Per Gary, a good example of this can be seen in much of Skittles work, which represented the way in which humour was inherently core to the brand. Because it committed to being funny in a variety of ways, there was a lot to work with, which proved a really strong foundation for great work that, more importantly, was memorable. 

“Everyone remembers ads that are funny,” he continued, emphasising exactly why this upside is so powerful. “We know it, we know the data, and it really works. So you’ve just got to lean into it and not be scared, otherwise it just falls flat.”

Having said all that, the conversation quickly shifted towards the topic of humour being a relevant part of the Cannes festivities this year. However, unlike the prior topic, there was a smidge more division within the creatives’ responses. 

Scott, for one, was largely optimistic about the introduction of the humour category. Observing that the past few years have been particularly heavy and serious, he said that making the show more fun via comedy is important, as it’ll make more people attend.

“I think just as someone who likes comedy, I'd be more likely to go if I thought I was going to have fun,” he expanded. “I remember the very first time I won an award – it was for this really serious, not funny radio spot about ending the use of meth. So, they were playing all these really funny ads, and the show was so much fun… and then it got to my serious, depressing radio spot, and the whole place just went down. I was like, ‘I never want to be in this position again. I want this to be more fun’.” 

On the flipside, however, Neo and Gary, while fine with the concept, expressed a bit more concern for the approach actually taken by the festival. In the former’s case, he disagreed with humour having a category, and rather, believed it should be present in all of the categories. 

“The issue is how we take ourselves seriously,” he explained. “We listen to the minority most of the time about how they react to stuff, so the few people end up pulling your head when the majority actually love it. We react too quickly to complaints about stuff, but good humour always has someone who is going to complain.”

Meanwhile, on Gary’s end, the conflict stemmed from the fact that in his eyes, humour is merely a single tool in a vast and diverse creative arsenal. Therefore, while having a category like that is interesting, and encourages people to write more funny stuff, it also exposes the risk that comes with people lacking cultural context. 

It’s a point the other panellists agreed with. Taking people from around the world means a jury built on different outlooks and viewpoints which, while important, poses the risk of people lacking full understanding of work outside their market, and why something is funny, or not. 

“Explaining the joke isn’t funny, but everyone’s got different levels of funny,” he continued. “So, I think humour just needs to inherently be in our work. We need to be more stupid, because all the work and the world are so serious. We need to be fun again, and that’s missing across all categories.”

This matter of seriousness posed some real food for thought. Nadja in particular was quick to observe that when looking at what gets awarded, a lot of it at the moment does end up being quite sad, because it’s an emotion that people can access very easily. 

“It’s a universal emotion that can be shown in so many different ways, but humour is fundamentally about culture and context – it’s not always about a universal truth” she added. “I think that’s why it gets lost, because it’s much harder work to evaluate. People disagree, someone’s taste isn’t your taste, etc.”

Unfortunately, another downside of this, as Neo observed, is the fact that sometimes, markets aren’t represented in entirely accurate ways. Looking toward his own, he stated that while the people of the African continent are funny and love laughing, when it comes to Cannes, everything that actually wins from Africa ends up being a very sad story. 

“There’s something to be said about that. When you look at the people themselves, they are laughing through everything – poverty and hardship and all those other things – and they quite enjoy jokes. But the rest of the world sees them as this other thing.”

Thinking on this, Scott attributed this trend to the fact that in recent years, marketers have convinced themselves that instead of selling things, they’re all about making the world a better place. Not only does this lead to a certain tone of case study, but also, it creates this misguided belief that comedy doesn’t sell, when in reality, the opposite is true. 

Citing a campaign he worked on in which, to promote IHOP’s burgers, the name was temporarily changed to IHOB, he pointed out that selling four times more hamburgers than planned due to a “dumb and funny” campaign provides some pretty clear evidence that comedy is effective, and can sell. 

“I just don’t know if you can say the same for sadness,” he mused. 

So, hypothetically speaking, what might it take to enable a stylistic shift? According to Neo, given the fact that brands tend to follow other brands, it just takes a few to initiate a trend, which, ironically, is what has happened with regard to the more recent surge of serious submissions. 

That, and just a willingness to embrace the joy that inherently comes with fun. “The world is pretty damaged,” Gary agreed. “But, instead of all this seriousness, let’s remember that when you laugh, it’s good for you. We sell cheese and yoghurt! Let’s have fun with it!”

However, this notion even applies on an internal level, which is something Neo pointed out when considering a recent meeting he had with one of his clients: Nando’s. “I was on set recently, and everyone was laughing the whole time,” he recalled. “We were literally stopping people from laughing because we had to focus on getting this thing done, and that’s the best kind of work.” 

Nadja followed this with another example: a campaign she recently did for the premium cat food brand Sheba. Tasked with launching a product featuring 70% more gravy, the initial notion of doing a sexy packshot was quickly surpassed by setting out two lines of gravy and shooting cats racing each other from the bottom. “I think the best thing about it is that everyone thought the licking sounds were disgusting, but the more gross it is, the funnier it gets. It's a great example of premium, silly and stupid that ends up making something bold that goes massively viral.”

Yet, even in spite of what would prove to be a creative masterstroke, there was still that token degree of brand resistance, she added. “It took us seven tries to sell it,” Nadja continued. “Eventually the client, after the fifth time, was like ‘I really don’t want to see this idea again’, so we just sent someone else from a different angle, and they were eventually like ‘yes, actually, we do love it’.”

So, to sum it all up and put some overall guiding points on their shared anecdotes and experiences, the panel wrapped up with some essential takeaways for aspiring comedic creatives and marketers alike. 

Key among these was Neo, who affirmed Nadja’s point that one of the biggest pitfalls to be avoided is the fact that brands want to always be in control. Especially relevant for realms like social media, which demands the “freedom to get it wrong”, it’s all about being granted the space to play, practice, and from there, build the consistency to do it every time. 

“Allow your agency to help you – you've paid them, after all,” he laughed. “They are the professionals, they've got evidence of prior work they've done, so when they tell you to go with something, sometimes you just have to let go and let them be in control of the part that you are the most uncomfortable with.”

Another big lesson, affirmed by Scott, is just to continue recognising comedy as an appropriate serious tool. “Yes, it’s funny,” he continues, “but it actually sells, and so I think we can all have more respect for it as a style. Just make sure your comedy is rooted in bulletproof strategy.” 

Finishing, Nadja encouraged brands to continue finding their voices, picking their lanes, and then just going for it. “I think it's just baby steps,” she concluded. “Sometimes, if you don't have that brave client, it’s just about trying to try, and exploring every different angle. Try every different way. Try social listening. Try this. Try that. And you know, just slowly get them there because sometimes it will take you a year to sell something, but it's always worth it.