The demand for humorous copywriting (intentionally humorous) has grown alongside viral marketing; truly funny content is more likely to get passed along (virally) than almost anything else.
The problem is this: A lot of copywriters aren’t funny. So when you need funny, it’s good policy to seek out one of the funniest people on the planet.
Witness the NXTube.com "spoof" blog, where an in-character John Cleese (yes, the Monty Python legend) masquerades as Ian MacCallister, an uptight Scottish golfer who feels Titleist’s new NXT golf balls are so good, they’re ruining the game of golf.
It’s hilarious, it’s well done, and it’s not a shallow effort; while much of the blog content is video-based, reader comments evoke in-character responses from the fictional MacCallister.
I cover the NXTube.com site in more detail on my Engagement Principles marketing blog. If you want to know what well-done humor looks like on the marketing stage, definitely worth a visit.
At this point, I’d love to produce six bullet points explaining how you can tap into the fast-growing humor copywriting market even if you’re really, really not funny.
But I can’t.
If you’re not funny, you shouldn’t try to write comedy (Really. I mean it.)
You can, however, become funnier, and in that vein, I’m offering you Today’s Single Helpful Hint (conveniently converted to a bullet, because that’s what the pro bloggers do):
- If you want to be funnier, study funny content (comedians, humorists, funny ads, etc)
Keep writing, Tom Chandler.
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Problem with humor is, like art, it’s completely subjective and fraught with unspeakable horror when folks get offended or worse, don’t get it at all and you can hear imaginary crickets singing in the great dark cybervoid.
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Posted 14 Mar 2008 at 11:13 am ¶Half the time my own wife doesn’t understand my jokes, but I suppose it’s possible she just doesn’t like them.
Still, your point is well taken; the question “what’s funny” could power a graduate-level philosophy class for a whole semester (without a resolution).
That’s why the lack of “do this” bullet points. You can learn to be funnier, but the best have an innate sense for it.
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Posted 14 Mar 2008 at 2:39 pm ¶My experience is that humor is NOT completely subjective. It’s more a group thing.
I have worked many different places, and it seems that your values defines your type of humor – or the other way around. Therefor humor is an great way of targeting a group or type of character.
At the same time humor de-arms; it is a powerful weapon to make people let their guard down.
I think this is why humor is very common in the European arena, where the sale is often toned down. The socialistic tendencies in the European mindsets are not as open for sales propositions as the American (where it seems to me that capitalism and selling are held in very high esteem, indeed).
In Norwegian high schools, teachers educate pupils in cricital thinking of advertising. Which ironically leads to more manipulating advertising – not less, as we all need to penetrate the force field of skepticism.
Here, working in advertising is perceived as serving the beast of capitalism. And no one calls themselves “salesmen” anymore; they’re all “customer consultants”. A far more accepted term – until it’s cover is blown.
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Posted 16 Mar 2008 at 6:03 am ¶Anyone who lives near (or at the base of) Mother Nature’s awesome fury HAS to be funny. The potential for disaster always provides for untold humorous situations which is, really, the basis for most comedy.
Mother-in-laws, planes, race, sex, politics, and almost any other topic continues its use as probable fodder for any one who wants to make people laugh. Would comedians have created any funny jokes about Eliot Spitzer before his fall from grace? No. He was about as funny as a glass of tomato juice.
Even people as diverse as Woody Allen and Borat understand that disaster of any kind will prompt some form of hilarity whether it be lack of a love life or lack of reason.
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Posted 17 Mar 2008 at 11:51 am ¶Roberta – The singing crickets are imaginary?? Geez, all this time I thought they were real. Boy, you sure ruined my day.
I am a professional copywriter, but I really wanted to be a comedian. Therefore, a lot of my copy starts to turn funny, but I have learned that a savage self inflicted bite to my forearm gets me back on track.
You see, funny copy has been proven time and time again to amuse lots of folks, but sell nothing. The lizards dancing to ‘Thriller’ on the Super Bowl commercial were very funny, but I couldn’t tell you what they were selling if you put a blowtorch to my feet.
Copy that doesn’t sell is junk. If one wants to write funny stuff, find another line of work than copywriting. My clients don’t want to be made to laugh….except maybe on the way to the bank after my brilliant copy made them lots of dough.
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Posted 19 Mar 2008 at 1:29 pm ¶Dave: I might have to disagree.
It’s true: humor that doesn’t speak to the product is just another form of very, very expensive entertainment (mostly for the ad agency creatives). The thriller lizards are an excellent example.
Yet it’s hard to argue with the long-term success of the “less filling/tastes great” Bud Light brand ads, which dealt with product benefits in a humorous way.
And while only the folks with the data know for sure, I believe the Cleese spoof site helped put NTX balls on the radar, and in a way that spoke to their performance benefits.
Frankly, the problems with the NXTube.com site revolved around the technology (few of the videos posted on YouTube, no way to quickly send content to friends, no way to display the videos in another blog, etc) instead of the concept.
By contrast, look at the BlendTec blender videos. The concept is funny, the bargain-basement videos went viral, and while I can’t recite the number off the top of my head, I did read that the company sold a mountain of blenders.
Funny copy for the sake of being funny? Humor that doesn’t speak to the product? You’re right, that’s simply an exercise in creative megalomania.
Still, I think appropriate humor does sell, especially to an increasingly jaded audience.
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Posted 19 Mar 2008 at 3:03 pm ¶Tom: You are correct. Sometimes funny does sell, but it’s in the extreme minority of successful copy, and something that should NEVER be tried by an amateur!
As the sage Dan Kennedy points out, the Energizer Bunny commercials won all kinds of awards and praise for being funny. When the dust cleared, the only battery company that had gained in market share was Ray-O-Vac. When 50 people on the street were asked what brand name the bunny was advertised, 40 got it wrong.
You also make a good point about advertising agencies. They work to win awards to use as marketing to get new clients. That’s why guys like you and me have work…..we actually help our clients SELL SOMETHING and generate sales, revenue, and profit, somethings the ad agencies don’t seem to care about, or at least it’s not high on their agenda.
OK, I’m off my soapbox now. I feel better already! Nice chatting with you Tom!
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Posted 20 Mar 2008 at 7:07 am ¶Dave/Tom: I almost always make a distinction between ADVERTISING and what I do which is direct marketing. Off the top of my hat, I can’t think of one direct mail/email promo I’ve ever written – or written by another DM copywriting – that used giggles to get someone to open up their wallet and cough-up a credit card number.
HOWEVER, in certain other media – like TV, viral video – it can work, but usually doesn’t. There are commercials I love but rarely can remember the name of the company/product being promoted. (Exception – the PC/Mac boys for Apple. Love the ads, always remember the company.)
On the other hand, I can remember company slogans from 20 or more years ago with ease. Not art or artful, but slam-bang advertising if you’re really looking to sell something. (My kids can sing the 2, count ‘em 2, Oscar Meyer jingles with glee. And when I think of it, I can’t recall another company with 2 beloved jingles for different but related products.)
Props to OM for not fiddling with pure gold.
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Posted 20 Mar 2008 at 11:19 am ¶This is interesting stuff.
I would certainly agree with Dave & Roberta; humor in a direct response setting is a tough sell, though again, I would never rule it out entirely.
On the other hand, years ago I wrote a series of funny, self-effacing ads for a fly fishing shop. Customers kept wandering in and repeating the headlines to the staff.
Revenues spiked whenever an ad hit the street, but they really spiked when I combined the humorous headlines with a special offer.
I tend to draw two conclusions from that experience.
First, humor is simply one more creative technique, much like a fear appeal, storytelling, etc.
Second, humor alone doesn’t generate sales any more than a dramatic, benefit-oriented tactic does without all the usual “buy now” goodies (the sales foundation).
And frankly, I think marketing is re-orienting itself a bit, and that humor might play better when the goals are long-term brand engagement instead of an instant sale.
It’s certainly fodder for thought.
What’s also true is that humor is hard. Damned hard — the kind of thing that shouldn’t be attempted without a net.
Anyone who’s ever told a kickass, surefire, drop-dead joke at a party and received only stares in return should know that (not that it’s ever happened to me, mind you).
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Posted 20 Mar 2008 at 12:10 pm ¶<>
Nor me. Ever. :)
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Posted 20 Mar 2008 at 12:36 pm ¶Obviously some people do humour naturally. But I think that even the dourest people can do humour if it is kicked out of them. But it is hard work, and unless they are themselves, then it will backfire.
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Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 2:17 pm ¶Trackbacks & Pingbacks 1
[...] Tom Chandler put an intriguing blog post on The Power of Humor: Are You a Funny Copywriter?Here’s a quick excerptWitness the NXTube.com “spoof” blog, where an in-character John Cleese (yes, the Monty Python legend) masquerades as Ian MacCallister, an uptight Scottish golfer who feels Titleist’s new NXT golf balls are so good, they’re ruining the … [...]
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