By Elli Bishop
Who doesn’t love a laugh?
Comedy is beloved for a number of reasons, and one of those is its ability to make advertising just a little more bearable.
Brands are turning to comedians to inject a bit of humor into their ads, and they have many good reasons to do this.
Last week, Bob LeDrew wrote a blog post about how, while effective, humor can also be screwed up if not done well.
Here are five reasons comedy and advertising make a great team if, like Bob says, they are done well.
1. It Gives a Positive Impression of Your Product
Advertising is often meant to incite some emotion about the brand, and naturally, advertisers and companies want those emotions to be positive.
Comedy is a common method for uplifting people, so introducing a comedian into advertising is a great way for companies to inject positive emotions into the perceptions of their brand. Having good feelings about a brand makes someone more likely to buy the brand.
This advertisement featuring Julia Louis Dreyfus and Jane Lynch is a great example of how you can feel good about a brand after watching its commercial.
These comediennes work well together in talking about how healthy and delicious the Healthy Choice products are while also physically and humorously demonstrating just how good they taste – as we witness Dreyfus shoveling each bite into her mouth.
2. It Creates a Lasting Memory and Lightens the Mood
Ever watch a dramatic or depressing program and wish you could snap out of the negativity for a minute?
When a funny commercial pops on, you can.
Similarly, if you watch a dry commercial about a prescription medication and another about a consumer product with a recognizable comedian, which do you think you’d remember?
Comedy can easily trigger memory, and you’re more likely to remember a funny joke than a run-of-the-mill conversation. You remember the way you felt and reacted to the advertisement when you saw it, creating a lasting memory you can repeat in your mind and share with others.
3. People Talk About it (and Laugh about it!)
Because advertising with comedians is often more memorable and enjoyable, people will want to share the funny with friends.
It could be in the form of analyzing the commercial just after you’ve watched it or at the water cooler at work the next day. You may also excitedly share the YouTube link with someone who has never seen the commercial.
There may be few things in this world more enjoyable than sharing a laugh with someone. Instead of laughing about a joke, a funny thing that happened to you on the way to work, or a funny movie you saw, you can just as easily talk and laugh about the commercial together—quoting the funniest lines and discussing the best parts.
For example, couldn’t you see yourself discussing how funny and cute the little kids are in those popular commercials from AT&T?
Actor and comedian Beck Bennett has a great rapport with the kids in these commercials, and their interactions end up making great fodder for conversation.
4. It Promotes Social Sharing (and is Great for On and Offline Marketing Efforts)
In addition to talking and laughing about a funny commercial in person, you can share those funny moments and reactions with others thanks to social media.
This makes the ad effective for both on and offline efforts and spreads the reach of the ad even farther.
People love to share funny things they’ve watched via social media, so this makes hiring a humor writer and/or a comedian for an ad very valuable to a company.
This funny digital short for Orbit gum from Jason Bateman’s shop DumbDumb has already gone viral and has thus improved the reach of the ad by much more than Orbit might have originally thought.
Brands are always trying to create viral content, and while there is no set formula for virality, they can try using comedians to encourage social shares.
5. It Takes the Nuisance Out of the Ad
In general, people are not fond of ads. They interrupt the content they really want to watch, and they are often for products that they aren’t or would never be interested in.
However, if companies make these ads entertaining, particularly by injecting humor, viewers are less likely to associate the company’s branding with the annoyance they often feel toward ads. Being entertained makes that interruption easier to deal with, and it leaves them with a better sentiment toward the brand once the ad is done.
Companies are always looking for new and innovative ways to get their brand and message out there. Bringing comedy into advertising is one proven way to do that, and your efforts can be doubled if you employ a famous comedian.
Comedy and advertising go hand-in-hand, and you will likely see plenty more of these collaborations in the future.