Waikato Business News April/May 2019

Did you hear
the one about…
Humour in advertising is both a fine art and
a torrid minefield. Approach with caution.
Humour is personal.
What some feel appropriate
might make others
squirm. Bad delivery of
a good joke can easily make
it a bad joke. But yet we still
frequently attempt wit and wisdom
to connect with our audiences.
There’s a technique that
the marketing jargonistas call
‘ridiculous exaggeration’. I
imagine it’s a concept rooted in
the theatre, where gestures and
statements have to be bold and
obvious to be seen in the back
rows of grand auditoria. But in
real life they seem over the top.
Subtlety is a rare commodity
when it comes to humour
in marketing. To me, it’s the
small things that make a witty
ad smart and memorable. I’m
loving the VTNZ Road Commander
campaign. In the latest
ad, where he’s heading to the
beach, I smile at the contrast of
his homely wife’s floral top and
the inflatable flamingo in the
back seat. It’s the little things
that count.
The current danger with
the use of humour is political
correctness. I’m not criticising
the idea of being PC – it’s
called correctness for a reason.
The issues that are in the field
of play for comedy are ever
changing, just ask any stand-up
artist. Whatever topic you tar-
get, you have to know that
your audience will relate and
applaud your approach.
I never officially complain
about much, but I did make a
formal Advertising Standards
Authority complaint about a
car dealership TV ad that used
ridiculous exaggeration combined
with an offensive racial
stereotype. I clearly wasn’t the
only one disgusted by it as the
ad was withdrawn.
If your approach
hangs off a joke,
you either need to
hit hard in a limited
timeframe, or find
a joke that has legs
that are long enough
to run for the time
you need.
How the advertiser could be
so crass was one thing, but how
they could mis-judge the audience,
was beyond me. It’s not
my humour and, I’m glad to
say, it’s increasingly unfunny
to the majority.
When deciding how to
position your brand in the
marketplace, or developing an
approach for a new campaign,
humour means you absolutely
have to know your audience,
more than with any other strategy.
And not only do you have to
be in tune with your audience,
but you have to be able to make
it work. Wit and humour are
hard to get right.
If I’ve had a constructive
morning in my home office,
I’ll occasionally allow myself
to turn on the TV over lunch.
I find myself experiencing the
dubious pleasures of advertising
for which I’m not the target
market…yet!
Insurance companies advertising
funeral cover seems to be
a popular day-time ad buy. It’s
a sensitive issue and finding
new ways to tell the story is a
challenge. Clearly.
There’s one where the couple
is wearing nothing, with
food and kitchen items strategically
placed to avoid embarrassment.
The script is littered
with puns about leaving nothing
to chance, having nothing
to worry about. It doesn’t work
for me…
Humour can be limiting in
the longevity it affords a campaign
too. Skinny’s current
campaign, for example, introduces
us to (presumably real)
New Zealanders who happen to
have the same name as famous
celebrities. Funny at first. Cute
the second week. But we get
it now. The chicken has safely
got to the other side.
If your approach hangs off
a joke, you either need to hit
hard in a limited timeframe, or
find a joke that has legs that are
long enough to run for the time
you need.
Finding humour in the
expletive is another really
tricky option. Depending on
our personal views, some
words are worse to us than
others. Words that are deeply
offensive to some, are conversational
fodder to others.
TELLING YOUR STORY
> BY VICKI JONES
Vicki Jones is director of Dugmore Jones, Hamilton-based brand
management consultancy. Email vicki@dugmorejones.co.nz
Saatchi’s award-winning
Toyota ad of the early 2000s
centred entirely around one
single and now infamous word.
At the time, the Advertising
Standards Authority received
120 complaints at the use of the
word ‘bugger’ in reaction to a
series of on-farm mishaps but
ruled that the ad was unlikely
to cause offence and let it run.
The ad itself was brilliantly
put together, a fact that perhaps
helped people be more accepting
of language they weren’t
traditionally used to experiencing
regularly on-screen.
It used the word in a context
that reflected the humour of
their audience and, at the time,
of the nation. But our tolerance
has been known to waver and
I can’t help but wonder what
reaction it would get today.
We don’t all have Toyota’s
budget or history. We can’t all
afford to take a risk. Humour
requires confidence and understanding
of your brand and
your audience. Know them
both well enough, it’s worth
the risk. Don’t and it will be
your competition that’s laughing
hardest.
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