What is Funny? A Very Serious Look at Comedy in Marketing
Ahhh, there are so many deep questions. Who are we? Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? And why is slipping on a banana peel so dang funny?
While I can assure you I have absolutely less than zero idea about the first three questions, I do have an idea about what makes funny… funny. So let’s explore what makes marketing funny and how to apply it in a B2B setting.
Funny 101
Let’s chat about some of the things we find funny in everyday life to get started. Here are just a few examples of the situations and content that make people smile, chuckle or (GASP!) guffaw:
1. Satire
Satire is an exaggerated look at people and businesses to identify and highlight the flaws in society and status quo. A good modern example of satire is The Office. It’s (hopefully) unlikely any of our coworkers will stage a fire to test our preparedness, but everyone knows that guy (real or made up) in our business who takes his job just a little too seriously.
Marketing Application
Look, I work in a lot of dry industries, and there’s probably more than one recorded case of me saying “it’s called hyperbole” to a genius left-brained CEO who thinks everything has to be perfectly literal.
We want to critically look at the flaws in our competitors’ solutions (not by name, of course), examine why status quo doesn’t work, and show how your clients do better work for their customers as a result.
Example
Idk who agrees, but Ikea’s response to Balenciaga’s reveal of a $2,000+ copycat bag was the hero we all need right now.
2. Irony
Irony is when the unexpected happens. Ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife, if you will. We tend to see patterns in the world around us, and when that pattern breaks in a funny way, that is irony. Think about the opening episode of Friends where Rachel casually strolls into Central Perk to get rescued by the girl she bullied in high school.
Application
We want to give customers what they don’t expect. If businesses in your industry are all serious, all the time, throw in a pun or meme. If the competition is bragging about how long their product shelf life is, but yours doesn’t last as long, tell them that up front.
Boldly go where no one else in your industry is going. Talk about what your clients don’t do. The catch is you have to include the “why.” I wouldn’t, for example, tell a bank to boldly state “we don’t lock our doors!”, but I would say “we don’t have ATMs on every corner because we want to see your face.”
Example
The best example I can think of is the famous Grey Poupon commercial. The last thing we expect limo passengers to be chatting about is mustard, but if they’re talking about any mustard at all, it’s damn sure going to be Grey Poupon.
3. Visuals
Here’s a funny story my dad’s told me about 100 times: the hysterical police drama Naked Gun (et. al) was actually a TV show that failed before it became one of the most classic comedy series of all time.
Why did it fail as a TV show? You had to actually watch it. From the Dick Van Dyke show to Bob’s Burgers, visual gags are a solid bet.
Application
This is pretty obvious, but it’s going to mostly apply to your media. Whether you can finally make the CEO teach us how to Dougie, or you use stock pictures of cats in business suits (looks up away, whistling), funny and eye-catching visuals are not only effective but very underplayed in the B2B space
Example
This hysterical example of KFC apologizing after a massive chicken shortage pretty much says it all.
ing4. Observational Humor
What’s the deal with airline food? There’s a reason Seinfeld constantly tops the lists of best TV series of all time, even though the show is kind of mostly basically about nothing. It’s their ability to observe the world around us and find humor in those observations.
Application
This is one of the best ways you can connect with your clients’ audiences. We’ve all experienced frustrations at work that your clients can solve. From memes to subject lines, there are so many ways to inject observational humor into your work. Identify the stressful situations your clients alleviate and get to solving.
Example
Here’s a fun meme I would pair with a caption about a job posting at your clients’ office (which is way, way more fun that this poor soul’s current job).
I hope I didn’t suck all of the fun out of humor in marketing. It’s incredibly important and even more so in spaces where it will really help your clients stand out.
