No doubt, the subject of comedy in advertising has been a hot topic lately. As brands and marketers look back on past disasters, the line they must tread to avoid public embarrassment is getting thinner and thinner. But those who have successfully trodden that line have landed some of the biggest, most memorable campaigns of the past few years, and it’s clearly possible.
Of course, Cannes Lions itself reinforces this even more this year. Consider the fact that a Humor category has been introduced in the Culture and Context section to celebrate the art of humor in brand communications. The literal brief clearly states that “Works submitted to this category must use wit and satire to deliver entertainment and create a memorable, laugh-inducing connection with the audience.”
With this importance in mind, LBB & Friends, hosted by the company’s EMEA Strategy Editor-in-Chief, Zhenya Tsenzharyk, brought together a top-tier line-up of chief creative officers. Among them were Neo Mashigo of M&C Saatchi Group South Africa, Scott Bell of Droga5, Nadja Lossgott of AMV BBDO, Gary Steele of DDB New Zealand and David Kolbusz of Orchard Creative (who, coincidentally, turned up dressed as a mime and offered his thoughts on a whiteboard throughout the panel), and this highly-regarded gathering represented the brightest creative minds from around the world.
The conversation began with a general discussion of the nature of comedy, and Neo was the first to respond, pointing out that comedy is inherently difficult, a point most would agree with. “To make something funny, you have to make somebody uncomfortable sometimes. For the majority of people to be happy, there has to be other people who they’re happy to laugh at, otherwise the joke isn’t as funny,” he explained. “Unfortunately, brands don’t like that. Brands don’t like to offend anyone, so I think that’s why most brands are risk averse.”
Gary added that in many ways brands are just scared — an important distinction from the fact that some creators believe brands are totally underestimating the category, especially considering that doing comedy “takes a bit of guts.” “It’s really hard to laugh at your own brand unless that’s what it is by its very nature,” he noted.
But there is huge potential here that, if harnessed properly, can do wonders on a marketing level. As Scott Bell pointed out, “Every good idea has tension at its heart.” So comedy is no different, and if the game of risk assessment is played properly and skillfully, it means going all out in saying things out loud that others might be too scared to say.
“We want to be funny, but we don’t want to be laugh-a-ha-ha or laugh-a-wink,” he continued. “I think brands like the idea of incorporating comedy, but they don’t want to get into comedy itself. That’s the real danger zone: It’s either funny or it’s not funny. And there’s nothing more depressing and terrible than not being funny.”
Naja, who had previously remained silent, took the opportunity to offer her own perspective on brands’ fears that if fun doesn’t work, as Scott pointed out, it will fail even worse. But she argued that being so afraid of fun is “just insanity,” because it cuts off everything that could be leveraged for the brand.
With all this in mind, the question arises as to how to actually do comedy effectively – and, as the judges believed, it all starts with the realization that to do it well, you have to follow through.
“I think the first question you have to ask yourself is, are you committed as a brand to being that kind of brand,” Neo points out. “This is important because you have to be consistent, and sometimes you can’t.”
If this isn’t kept in mind, brands run a huge risk of their audience being confused by the tone, which is not good for the overall outcome. But just as important is the challenge of being consistently entertaining, which requires a consistently high level of performance in an admittedly tricky field.
So what’s your best bet? Ultimately, layering different types of humor in your work is a good way to get consistent results.
According to Gary, a great example of this can be seen in much of Skittles’ work, which shows that humor is essentially at the core of the brand: “We tried to be funny in different ways, so there was a lot to work with, and that proved to be a very strong foundation for great and, more importantly, memorable work.”
“Everybody remembers a good ad,” he continued, emphasizing why this benefit is so powerful: “We know it, we know the data, and it really works, so you just have to be willing to lean into it, or you’ll just fail.”
That being said, the conversation quickly shifted to a key part of this year’s Cannes Film Festival: humor. But unlike the previous topic, there was a bit of a split in the creative responses.
Scott was generally optimistic about the addition of a humor section, saying the past few years have been particularly somber and serious, and that it was important to make the show more fun with comedy, which he said would help attract more audiences.
“As someone who loves comedy, I think I would have been more likely to go if it looked fun,” he continued. “I remember the first time I got an award, it was for a very serious, unfunny radio spot about quitting methamphetamine use. So they were doing a really funny ad and the show was a lot of fun… but then they got to my serious, depressing radio spot and the whole place just kind of fell apart. I was like, ‘I don’t want to be in that position again. I want to have more fun.'”
However, Neo and Gary, while in favor of the concept, were a bit concerned about the approach the festival had actually taken: in Neo’s case, he was against assigning categories to humour, rather believing that humour should be present in all categories.
“The problem is how seriously we take ourselves,” he explained. “We almost always listen to a minority’s reaction to things, so you end up with a minority of people criticizing you when the majority actually likes it. We’re too quick to react to complaints about things, but with every good humour, someone is going to complain.”
On the other hand, for Gary’s part, the conflict arose from the fact that humor, in his eyes, was just one tool in a wide and diverse creative arsenal: So it’s interesting that such a category exists, and while it encourages people to write more funny stuff, it also exposes the risks that come with people who don’t have that cultural background.
This was a point agreed with the other panelists: bringing together people from all over the world means a jury based on different views and perspectives, which is important but runs the risk of lacking a full understanding of work outside of their own market, or not understanding why a work is or isn’t interesting.
“It’s not funny to explain a joke, but everyone has a different level of humor,” he continued. “So I think humor has to be inherent in our work. We need to be silly because everything is so serious in our work and in the world. We need to be fun again, and that’s missing in all areas.”
This question of seriousness was really thought-provoking, especially for Nadja, who quickly realized that when she looks at the winning works, there is a lot of sadness at the moment, because winning works are emotions that people can easily access.
“Humor is a universal emotion and can be expressed in many different ways, but humor is fundamentally about culture and context, not necessarily about universal truths,” she added. “Humor is lost because it’s a much harder task to assess: people disagree, someone’s taste is not your taste, etc.”
Unfortunately, as Neo pointed out, another downside to this is that sometimes the market isn’t a completely accurate representation: looking at his own country, he says that people on the continent are funny and love to laugh, but when it comes to Cannes, practically everything that wins from Africa ends up being a very sad story.
“There’s something to be said about that. If you look at the people themselves, they’re laughing at the poverty and hardship and everything else and they’re having so much fun joking around. But the rest of the world sees them as something else.”
Thinking about this, Scott attributed this trend to marketers nowadays being convinced that it’s all about making the world a better place, not selling stuff. Not only does this lead to a certain vibe of case studies, but it also creates the mistaken belief that comedy doesn’t sell, when in fact the opposite is true.
He cited his work on a promotional campaign for IHOP’s burgers, which temporarily changed their name to IHOB, pointing out that the “silly but funny” campaign led to four times as many burgers sold as planned, as pretty clear evidence that comedy works and sells.
“I don’t know if the same can be said about grief,” he mused.
So, if that’s the case, what does it take to make a style shift happen? According to Neo, brands tend to follow others, so it only takes a few brands to start a trend, and ironically, that’s exactly what’s happened with the recent surge in serious applications.
That and the embrace of joy that comes from having fun. “The world is hurting a lot,” Gary agreed. “But instead of getting so serious, let’s remember that laughter is healthy. We sell cheese and yogurt! Let’s have fun!”
But this idea also applies at an internal level, something Neo pointed out during a recent meeting with one of their clients, Nando’s. “I was on set recently and everyone was laughing the whole time,” he recalls. “We were literally stopping people from laughing because we had to focus on getting this job done, which is the best job we have.”
Naja gives another example, pointing to a recent campaign for premium cat food brand Sheba. Challenged to launch a product with 70% more gravy, the initial idea of taking a sexy pack shot quickly changed to lining up two rows of gravy and filming the cats racing underneath. “The best thing about this campaign is that everyone thought the licking sounds were gross, but the grosser it is, the funnier it becomes. It’s a great example of how premium, silly and absurd can create a bold campaign that goes viral.”
But despite what turned out to be a creative tour de force, Naja adds that there was still a modicum of resistance to the brand. “It took us seven times to pitch it,” Naja continues. “Finally, after the fifth time, the client said, ‘I don’t want to see this idea anymore,’ so we sent someone else with a different angle, and they finally said, ‘Yeah, actually, I like it.'”
So, to sum it all up and provide some overall guidance based on the anecdotes and experiences shared, the panel concluded with some key takeaways for aspiring comedy creators and marketers.
Key to this was Neo, who echoed Naja’s point that the biggest pitfall is for brands to always want to be in charge. Especially in a space like social media that demands the “freedom to make mistakes,” it’s important to be given the space to play, practice and then build the consistency to execute it every time.
“Ask an agency to help you – you’re paying them, after all,” he laughed. “They’re professionals. They’ve got a track record of what they’ve done so when they tell you to pick something, sometimes you just have to let go and let them handle the part you’re most nervous about.”
Another big lesson, Scott asserts, is to continue to recognize comedy as an appropriate serious tool. “It’s funny,” he continues, “but it actually sells, so I think people could use a little more respect for comedy as a style. You just have to make sure your comedy is based on a sound strategy.”
Finally, Naja encouraged brands to find their voice, choose their path, and just keep trying. “I think this is just the first step,” she concluded. “Sometimes, if you don’t have a brave client, you just have to give it a go, and explore every angle. Try every avenue. Try social listening. Try this. And slowly bring them there. It may take a year to sell something, but it’s always worth it.
