The Effectiveness of Funny Ads: What A Laugh! (Chapter 17)

The funny thing about funny ads is that not everyone finds them humorous because what is funny to one person can be uninteresting or even irritating to another.  The key to achieving humor in an ad is incongruity, which is defined as something that does not seem to fit with or be appropriate to its context.  Take this ad for example:

Incongruity - Make 'em laugh. Make 'em believe. Make 'em buy.

This ad shows one elephant performing the Heimlich maneuver on another elephant who has apparently choked on a peanut because it’s so big.  The product is for Kaya King Jumbo Peanuts.  The thing that makes this ad funny is the fact that elephants cannot actually perform life saving maneuvers to prevent each other from choking.  That is what incongruity is all about- the more impossible or incompatible the two things are that are fused together, the more enjoyment people seem to derive from it.

The downside to this type of advertising is that people tend to remember the images but they often forget the brand.  That is the double edge sword with this type of advertising- humorous ads definitely capture attention and can sometimes be very effective IF we can focus our attention more on the brand and the message.

One way advertisers can overcome this problem is to make sure the brand, product or message is much stronger than the humor itself or that it is highlighted as part of the humor.  Take this Burger King ad for example: 

Just a laugh to help them remember the product.

It showcases the Whopper sandwich trying to fit into a Big Mac box.  The Whopper is at the center of the ad, the words Whopper are in a large font and the Burger King logo is prominently displayed.   The humor is also very understated and doesn’t overshadow the ad, which can be a problem if we are too busy trying to process the humor and not connect with the brand or message.

Liking a brand’s advertising is another mechanism that helps make humor effective.  In other words if consumers like the way the brand communicates it can add to the liking or support of the brand. 

If an ad is really funny it can be effective for several years, the reason is because of the social dimension.  Laughter and humor is contagious and often consumers find themselves anticipating the humor in ads that have made them laugh before.  The commercials shown during the Super Bowl are a perfect example of this and they are almost as anticipatory as the game itself.  Consumers wait with bated breath to see if the new Budweiser commercial shown during Super Bowl is going to be better or funnier than the one last year. Speaking of which, Budweiser is known for having one of the most successful ad campaigns of all time with the Budweiser frogs.  The way they integrated the name of the brand with the frogs croaking was brilliant and is still very memorable fifteen years after it first debuted.

Here is the orginal ad, just to jog your memory: