Many of the most memorable ad campaigns around tend to be funny.
Advertisers use this strategy to attract customers to their
product. Audiences like to be entertained, but not pitched.
People will pay more attention to a humorous commercial than a
factual or serious one, opening themselves up to be influenced.
The key to funny advertising is assuring the humor is
appropriate to both product and customer. The balance between
funny and obnoxious can often be delicate; and a marketer must
be certain the positive effects outweigh the negative before an
advertisement can be introduced.
The best products to sell using humor tend to be those that
consumers have to think the least about. Products that are
relatively inexpensive, and often consumable, can be represented
without providing a lot of facts, and that’s where there’s room
for humor. Candy, food, alcohol, tobacco and toys/entertainment
related products have proven to benefit the most from humor in
their campaigns. One of the most important things to keep in
mind is relevance to the product. An example of an extremely
successful humorous campaign is the series of “Yo Quiero Taco
Bell” commercials. The star, a tiny talking Chihuahua who is
passionate about his Taco Bell got people repeating the
company’s name across the country. The repetition of the company
name and the actual content of the commercial reinforce the
message in a relevant manner. Taco Bell saw a substantial rise
in sales and their own mascot became a pop icon.
Another point to consider when using humor in advertising is
that different things are funny to different people. A
commercial that may leave one person gripping their sides from
laughter may leave a bad taste in another’s mouth. The target
market must always be considered. What’s funny in a client
presentation may not be funny on an airplane, at a country club
or in a hospital. An example of a recent humorous product
introduction is Mike’s Hard Lemonade. These commercials feature
over exaggerated and comical violence with the underlining
message that no one's day is hard enough to pass up a Mike's. It
failed, ranking as one of the year’s most hated campaigns by
both men and woman according to 2002’s Ad Track, a consumer
survey. The series of commercials are aimed at 21-29 year old
males and the repetition of comical violence (such as a
construction worker being impaled on the job and a lumberjack
cutting off his own foot) gets less and less funny every time
it’s viewed. Eventually the joke just wore out and the
commercial became annoying and offensive.
Humor in advertising tends to improve brand recognition, but
does not improve product recall, message credibility, or buying
intentions. In other words, consumers may be familiar with and
have good feelings towards the product, but their purchasing
decisions will probably not be affected. One of the major keys
to a successful humorous campaign is variety, once a commercial
starts to wear out there’s no saving it without some variation
on the concept. Humorous campaigns are often expensive because
they have to be constantly changed. Advertisers must remember
that while making the customer laugh, they have to keep things
interesting, because old jokes die along with their products.
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