Why a Good Sense of Humor Is a Marketer’s Best Friend
By: Mehboob Khan
Tags: Humor, Creativity, Content, Advertising, Marketing

In a world where our attention is the currency, everyone is trying to get rich quick. And if you have a knack of finding the humorous side of any situation, then you my friend, are in business.

So, let's cut the chase and see why humor is so enchanting. Here are a few advertisements that not only made us laugh to tears but also became extremely popular.

Haynes: Not for astronauts

How does an upcoming animation company showcase its capabilities?

One way is by creating an advertisement with jaw-dropping visual effects, showing the world their expertise.

But that will just pass on the message to the people. People will enjoy the add, know that company makes good ads and then forget about it. Maybe some with a keen interest in the animation industry would even share it. But mostly, it won’t create tremors for the world to notice them.

So how does such a company make their campaign memorable and become a global sensation?

You know the answer.

Cinesite an animation company, created a fake bean commercial in 2013 that showcased its expertise in animation and also took a hilarious take on the not-so-subtle side effects of the delicious baked beans that children devour.

The impact

It was an instant hit, gathering 2.5 million views on YouTube as soon as it was launched and till date has received over 15 million views. It won a gold award for Best Web Viral at the AEAF awards and was also selected for the prestigious opening slot at Siggraph’s electronic theater in 2014.

Cinesite: Beans commercial

Kia’s: Hero’s journey

Taking the funny route when advertising for a car can be a little tricky. The perception of the brand or the car is all that matters to the customers. And humor can often backfire.

But when you have Melissa McCarthy on the team, then there is nothing to worry about.

In a tongue-in-cheek commercial played at the 2017 Super Bowl for Kia’s new eco friendly model Niro, they show McCarthy as an eco-warrior trying to save mother nature but failing horrendously every time.

The commercial ends with the punchline,“Its hard to be an eco-warrior, but its easy to drive like one.”

The impact

The advertisement won the 9th annual USA TODAY Ad Meter competition, which is one of the USA’s most closely watched symbols of advertising excellence. It was one of the most watched ads of 2017 with around 25.9 million views.

Kia: Hero’s Journey

Dollar shave club

This is one of the best case study to understand why humor is vital in creating extraordinary viral content. The servers crashed as soon as the ad went online. People were pulled into watching the hilarious video and in a few days it had raked in 3 million views. Till date, it has received over 27 million views.

And what was the cost of production of the ad?

A paltry $4500.

How much time did it take to produce the ad?

A single day.

In the words of Michael Dublin, the CEO of Dollar Shave Club and who also acted in the commercial,

“People tend to remember things when they’re musically presented, and comedy is a form of music. When you’re launching a new business and sharing a new idea, if you can get people to remember it, there’s obviously a better chance at success.”

The Impact

The impact of the ad was such that it prompted 12,000 orders within two days. It secured a series A and a year later series B of funding for the company. The video won “Best Out-of-Nowhere Video Campaign” at the 2012 AdAge Viral Video Awards. It was awarded a 2013 Webby Award in the Fashion & Beauty category and earned the People’s Choice Webby Award in the Consumer Packaged Goods category.

Dollar Shave Club 2012 viral video

Spotify: Wrapped

Songs bottle our feelings better than any picture could. Often, you will stumble upon songs that you had forgotten. Songs that were your favorites back in the day, but were left behind in the journey of your life. Songs that you listened with your first crush. Songs that you danced on with your friends.

Stumbling onto such kind of songs was an act of serendipity then. Now, the trace of data that we leave behind as we move into the future makes it easy for us to relive those memories.

Spotify in the year end Wrapped campaigns, which it began since 2015, brings people face to face with their listening habits. Every user gets a detailed report of their most streamed songs or what genres they preferred.

And when you are going through streams of user data, you are bound to find something interesting and something… funny!

Spotify used some hilarious listening habits to advertise their wrapped campaign. For instance, one user had created a playlist, “I don’t give a s*** what the calendar says, it’s Christmas,” and Spotify created an outdoor billboard out of it. Another ad read, “My Favorite Murder was the favorite podcast of 327,676 people on Spotify this year. Careful, one of them might be behind you.”

The impact

The campaign spread like wildfire. It turned million of Spotify users into unpaid influencers as they shared their listening habits with their networks. Around 60 million users engaged with the in-app story experience that got almost 3 billion streams from Wrapped playlists. According to twitter the campaign has been mentioned in nearly 1.2 million posts in 2019.

Spotify: Billie Eilish reading some funny playlists names that users have created for her songs

Melbourne Metro: Dumb ways to die

Have you ever tried to stand at the edge of the metro platform, feeling the gushing wind as the train moves past you? Because your friends wanted to see if you got the balls? Or because you were lost in your thoughts and didn’t notice the train coming?

Many people put their lives at risk by not being alert enough while boarding trains. So in 2012 Melbourne Metro took on the challenge to create a public awareness campaign of the risks that linger on the metro station.

This is another example of how humor can infuse life in what would otherwise have been boring public announcements. They could have gone the usual way by creating boring content, sticking posters here and there, that tells people how to behave. Like how the Big Brother’s posters used to keep people in check in George Orwell’s 1984.

But the Metro Trains took the creative and the humorous route to spread their word. And did the word spread?

It not only spread, it became a riot.

The campaign took off like a Tesla Rocket and got the world talking about it.

The impact

Within 24 hours of its launch, the Dumb Ways to Die Song was charting iTunes. In three days it received 4.7 million views on YouTube and in three months it had got a mind-boggling 30 million views. In less than 2 months, the song raked in $60 million because people were buying it. As of Nov 2020, the video on YouTube has received over 200 million views.

The campaign which apart from the commercial also included a video game and a slew of stock posters became the most awarded campaign at the prestigious Cannes Lions bagging 5 Grand Prix, 18 Gold Lions, 3 silver Lions and 2 Bronze Lions.

Melbourne Metro: Dumb Ways to Die

Laughter is Contagious

Humor helps you see the lighter side of life in the darkest of situations. You might be having a rough day, but while coming back home, if you see something that makes you laugh, the day would suddenly feel better.

Not every funny content will amuse you. It’s hard to get the joke right every time. For every successful joke, there might be tens that never took off.

But, if you are original, empathetic and understand how humor could add to the appeal of your brand, then you don’t have to worry about much. Because as Plato said, “Even the gods love jokes.”