What Makes a Funny Ad, Funny?

Todays post reflects on what makes a funny advertisement, funny?

From the man behind those amazing HBO Go ads and “Swear Jar”, research conducted by Jeff Beer explains what makes an advertisement hilarious. Now, you could ask anyone what makes advertisements funny and you’d get very different responses. This is because comedy, in one-way or another, speaks to everyone differently, thus when creating an advertisement, one needs to consider what is funny to the target market. In under a minute or less you need to make your audience laugh while conveying information about the product. Jeff Beer complied a list of what he found to make advertisements funny when creating his popular advertisements. 

Here is a list summarizing Beer’s tips for being funny in your advertisement.

·      Let a joke live its natural life.  Essentially, don't drag out something that was only funny for 5 seconds; unless you want to kill the joke!

·      Find room to improvise. Try to create the opportunity for the actors to live in the moment.

·      Go behind the eyes. Look for actors for the advertisement that have more going on upstairs in the mental department. Beer suggests looking for inside-out actors that can do a lot with a little.

·      Look for specific moments. Look for daily opportunities where comedy naturally occurs because people laugh when they recognize themselves in what they are watching.

·      Always go faster. Speed allows you to find those natural, vulnerable moments.

Beer’s list is particularly useful for marketers creating TV commercial advertisements. While the tips are more related to the director side, anyone with a smartphone can create an advertisement and upload it to YouTube for the world to see, thus this is virtually useful for all marketers. If comedy is the means you’d like your content to be presented by, then follow Beer’s and let me know how it goes in the comment section!! Id love to hear if his tips are useful or not for you!

Special thanks to my readers for the recent love on my blog: Thank you to David, Richard, Grace and the rest of my readers for your advice and support.  

Cleans your balls

Some areas in the US banned this commercial because it is a suggestive and raunchy advertisement that calls to young men on the basis of pure nature. The fact is HUMANS STINK! Seriously have you smelled yourself lately?? Take off all the manmade creations to dim the smells: deodorants, soaps, sprays and lotions, and what do you have left? One stinky person! As a brand that caters to the stinky, Axe, boys going through puberty find these handsome smelling products particularly appealing.

Here's the situation in this Axe body wash commercial; Jamie plays ex-tennis star Monica Blake, guesting as a fake TV pitchwoman for the newest Axe product- a detailer to clean dirty balls. Did she just say dirty balls in a body wash commercial? YES! This commercial is definitely not one to watch with mom and dad due to the suggestive nature of the advertisement. While TV advertising humor is not usually this… uncomfortable in the US, it turns out that this type of humor is a common advertising technique around the globe. A quick Google search of ads banded in the US turns up hilarious, explicit commercials for all sorts of products from condoms to bananas!

This commercial did an excellent job at capturing the attention of its target audience, male teenagers. This ad from 2008, was designed to increase awareness of the Axe Detailer using an edgy, funny, and in my opinion a bit raunchy commercial. Axe sold consumers on the products benefits because as Fra30774 in “This is not ADVERTISING” puts it, “we needed to tell them that the Axe Detailer, “Cleans your Balls.” Tell me your opinion about this ad and leave me a comment ?! 

Carnava, That Didn't Suck - Car Buying in Pajamas

If you've bought a vehicle for yourself , or at all, then you've probably experienced buyers remorse. IT SUCKS!! IT REALLY….REALLY DOES! What makes buying a car suck? Mostly it sucks because you have to drop fat stacks to get the shinny new road runner and suddenly every penny you've pinched, table you've wiped and complaint you didn't roll your eyes at comes into view. You worked had for that money, well hopefully you did.. and now you have to give away your life savings to be able to get your lumpy body from place to place fast. But its worth it, wasn't? Once you've got the car in your hands, buyers remorse often sets in as you question the price you paid, the features you choose. “Did I look long enough?” you might ask yourself. Car buying is notoriously a negative experience dealing with sharks, not the marine kind, that takes your money for what you hope is a great deal.  Enter Carnava commercial, “That didn't Sick.”

A man sits on his couch clad in his silk robe and comes to the realization that, THAT DIDN'T SUCK! What did he do?  You betcha he just bought a car… in is living room… in his silk robe. This TV advertisement, longer and more enjoyable online in my opinion, hits the customer with an rapid electronic dance beat enhanced with base, dance, color, excitement. The Ad speaks to consumers who are frustrated with the car buying process. They are younger, possibly, buying their first or second car on their own. These individuals value the stretch of their dollar as they have other priorities then to waste time and money at dealerships. Carnava advertises itself as a stress free alternative to dealership car purchasing through its website. E-commerce businesses have reduced overhead costs and no bonuses to pay salespersons; these cost savings are passed onto the consumers making this business model a viable one.

I would have liked this advertisement more if they put more cats in it, I don't think I saw a single cat in the whole advertisement. C’mon seriously? The salesman in the pink suit dancing at the middle-end of the commercial had me rolling, and I think that appeals humorously to the advertisement target consumer.  What isyour opinion, are you this advertisements target consumer? Tell me about it in the comment section!

Funny or Controversial – Doritos Ultrasound Advertisement 2016

TV advertisements are among the most effective, if not the most effective, advertising mediums. According to key findings from a market share study by Jason Lynch, “which meta-analyzed thousands of marketing optimizations used by major advertisers from 2009 to 2014… [it was found that] TV advertising is still the most effective means” to accurately convey and deliver meaning to consumers (Jason Lynch, 2015).  Humor is one-tool marketers us in TV ads to help convey their message, however, sometimes humor can be taken the wrong way.

            A funny Doritos commercial, “Ultrasound”, a pregnant couple is seen in the hospital viewing their child on the ultrasound machine. Immaturely depicted, the father munches on a big bag of Doritos. Shown as uptight, the wife complains to the nurse about what she has to put up with. Like every couple hasn't been there, done that; right? The father notices that the baby is following his waving hand (that's holding a Dorito Doritos - I googled it, there is no Dorito), mom throws the chip and baby jumps out! Of course, so as to not waist the precious product!

This funny commercial stirred up quite the controversy as several complained the male and female depictions were stereotypical and depicted a brand against pro choice. NARAL, a pro choice organization said, " # NotBuyingIt- that @Doritos ad using #antichoice tactic of humanizing fetuses & sexist tropes of dads as clueless & moms as uptight. #SB50". I was totally clueless to this argument when I watched the commercial. I admit to laughing when I saw it on TV and again when writing this post. I guess you could view an excited pregnant wife with her husband as antichoice? I guess… I guess I could also call a person who owns a dog a cat murder? Right ? WRONG TO BOTH! How are we supposed to know that women didn't want her baby? Anywho that's just my opinion on that.

Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Night. Oh ya, check out the advertisement for yourself and argue your stance with me in the comment section? Come on, it’ll be fun!

Lynch, Jason. "Why TV Is Still the Most Effective Advertising Medium." AdWeek. N.p., 9 June 2015. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.