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OPINION:
Seriously, beyond a demonstrable USP, the primary value of humour
is that it's the quickest form of communication. Humour can be disarming: it often suggests the advertiser has the confidence not to take themselves too seriously. "It won't make you sexier, it won't make you live forever, it won't make you rich: but it's a good product", to paraphrase Mary Wells. Humour comes in many forms and works most effectively when it fits the profile of the product. From crude innuendo to slapstick, from sly irony to gentle amusement. From laugh out loud to chuckle, and on to appreciative smile. Structurally, in whatever form it's delivered, a joke is also the purest form of one-on-one communication. It pre-supposes an affinity with the audience. It says I'm telling you this because you will appreciate this. It talks to you, intimating you will understand this. It will evoke a positive response, stimulating a perception that you will feel good about me for telling you this. In advertising, the recipient of this goodwill is the advertiser. At a basic level a comic relies on understanding their audience, and that this audience will appreciate the form and style of humour, or the comic will fail. The same applies to its use in advertising. The humour must be aligned with the product in its level and application. It must 'fit', or it too will fail. The product will not be associated with the joke. You will remember the joke, not the product. An example of a successful application of humour in advertising is the Snickers TV candy with the blokes on the beach each enjoying a bar. The aim is to show that this Snickers is different - it has hazelnuts instead of the usual peanuts. Onto the beach comes a well-known transvestite in a bikini, wiggling her bottom. One bloke points out, "That's different." The second thinks he's talking about their Snickers. "Must be the nuts," he says. Crude, yes. Not to every viewer's taste, yes. Aimed at a certain target audience, yes. Makes that audience laugh, yes. Very effective, yes. A good joke also makes good use of the TV medium. It can be visual, verbal, or a combination of both. The 3-dimensional nature of TV allows the teller of the joke (the director) more scope to structure the situation and the delivery to their best advantage. They have the use of all the senses, and can more easily complete the task in the requisite 30-seconds. Radio relies entirely on 'the theatre of the mind': an incomparable tool, but many jokes are very difficult to tell in a tight time frame. Print is two-dimensional. A cartoonist can successfully tell a joke, but to build a product into the scenario is often difficult. But whatever the medium, a joke has to be well told. This is the only inherent danger of humour. Apart from its being relevant to the product, the measure of a comedian - the vehicle, the medium - is how well they carry it. Structure, staging, delivery, are paramount. The best protagonists take all these aspects very seriously. John Cleese once said, "If you're shooting humour and the crew laughs, invariably it won't look good on film." However, perhaps the simplest reason to use humour is that, whatever its form, the best humour always contains a human truth. And what is advertising if it isn't 'truth well told'?
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