Why Funny Makes You Money

by Drew Shafer

What if I told you there was a way to naturally double, triple, or even quadruple your ad impressions without paying a cent more? What if your potential customers were surrounded on social media by your ad without you having to spend an arm and a leg for it? What magic pill or snake oil am I peddling? Humor. Advertising with humor allows your brand message to flourish because comedy creates a feeling of superiority, naturally relies on surprise and incongruity, and creates an ad people want to share with their friends. When used properly, comedy can be the ladder that takes your advertising to new heights.

The Superiority Theory of Comedy

One major theory of comedy is the “Superiority Theory.” The Superiority Theory believes we laugh when we feel superior to someone else or a previous version of ourselves. A great example in advertising is the Hotels.com “Captain Obvious” campaign.

Here, a man, dressed as a captain, states obvious facts with the brand message that Hotels.com is the “Obvious Choice.” In one early ad in this campaign, a family is seen walking into a dilapidated hotel room where Captain Obvious steps forward and tells them, “This room is creepy.” We laugh at the absurdity, but we also laugh at the fact we feel superior by not being the father of the family who picked that hotel room. Perhaps we also have booked a hotel room or trip that did not quite fit the description we were given and laugh at our own past mistake. The brand message “The Obvious Choice” tells us that if we are to remain in our superior state, we should book through Hotels.com. By using the superiority theory of comedy, your message will get a laugh and prove your product/service is a superior experience.

The Incongruity Theory of Comedy

Another major theory of comedy is the “incongruity theory.” The Incongruity Theory believes comedy occurs when someone’s expectation or a perception of a situation is wrong. A very simple example is “I drank so much in college. I was the worst professor.” When you read the first sentence, your perceptions and expectations are that I was the coolest frat brother. The second sentence shows your first instinct was wrong and creates a laugh. This moment of surprise catches you off-guard and is also crucial to a great advertisement. People are surrounded by ads, so a great ad needs to surprise them, get their attention, and be memorable. According to Psychology Today, attention is necessary for memory and “Nothing focuses the mind like surprise.” When your advertisement surprises the audience with a joke, it will have a twofold impact. First, it will grab their attention. Our senses are constantly overloaded, but your ad will stand out. Secondly, your ad will be remembered. Rather than having to replay the same message over and over, your ad can be remembered quickly and create an emotional connection people never forget.

Organic Growth and Sharing > Paying For More Impressions

When you start to consider your advertising options, you will be surrounded by measures like the number of impressions your ad will create based on its frequency, channel, and timing. These numbers come from various surveys on viewership/listenership conducted in a market. It doesn’t take a Captain Obvious or a drunk college professor to tell you the goal is to reach the most people for the least amount of money. One amazing way to do this is to create an ad so funny that people share it on YouTube, Facebook, and other social media platforms. The posts most often shared are positive posts that either make someone happy or make someone laugh. When you create an ad so funny that people want their friends to see it, you can reach millions more than you originally thought you would. Take, for example, a recent Geico Insurance commercial featuring a scientist in an “International Antarctic Research Station” bringing a karaoke machine and singing the Backstreet Boys’ song “I Want It That Way” on repeat which has surpassed 25 million views on YouTube. Because the video elicits a laugh, it has created 25 million more impressions for the exact same price by spreading for free on social media. According to YouTube data: “YouTube reaches more 18–34 and 18–49 year-olds in the US than any television network.” If you create an ad worth sharing, which comedy does, you will reach more people than you could ever have imagined.

If you need help coming up with a funny angle for your product or service, contact Write Label and get insight from some of the wittiest writers in the world.