Humor is an Effective Business Communications Tool

A Dummy's Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin, Mannequin American

Humor Can Be an Effective Communications Tool

People respond to humor with their emotions, not with reason.  This means humorous communications are able to slip past left-brained defenses. Messages are received, enjoyed and remembered.

Humor can improve the effectiveness of newsletters, websites, blogs, commercials and virtually all forms of communication. But the levity should not demean the message; it should enhance it.

But using humor effectively is not something everyone is good at. Our firm once lost a long-time client to a much larger agency. Six months later the client returned, explaining that the big agency couldn't replicate the popularity of the newsletter we had produced for distributors. The newsletter had a fictional editor ... imagine that ... and used simple but effective humor to gain attention, entertain and make messages more memorable. We regained the newsletter business and eventually regained the entire account.

Humor creates an emotional attachment and makes messages more memorable. But knowing how and when to use humor takes experience ... and even then it can still be challenging. View copies of our award winning newsletter here. And if you're interested in learning more about how to use humor to improve your communications contact Brown & Martin, Inc. We'll get your message noticed. http://www.bmpr.com/

A Humorous Example

If you're a parent, you'll love this.

To prove the how humor can attract and hold your attention, here's a 30 second spot from NetCom that uses a repeatedly disappointed crying boy to get its point across. You feel sorry for the dad while at the same time laughing at the circumstances that all parents find themselves in at some point.

Click here to see NetCom's humorous message ..."The only fair thing to do is to make the price the same for everyone."

Is This a Good Idea?

Really? An indoor turkey fryer? After Allstate Insurance commercials informed me that 15 people burned their houses down last year while frying turkeys in the garages, I think I'll take a pass on the indoor version.

I Wish I Had Never Seen This

Behold the "true clean towel," which is apparently a real product.

The premise is that you don't want to dry off your face with the same part of a towel you used to dry off your nether regions the day before. And this towel ensures that that won't happen because it shows you what part to use for your "top" and "bottom." It's yours for $19. (There's a video to go along with this product, but the pubic hair in the mouth moment convinced me not to include it.)

More Vintage Ads

Oh Baby! Don't Stop!

Here' an old tri-vision billboard (shows three messages) that appeared in Hollywood for Sauza Conmemorativo Tequila. It's one of my all time favorites because it's funny and because the humor is based on the location ... Hollywood. Brilliant, daring and effective in getting people to talk about the ad.

How Hungry Would Your Family Have to Be?

From 1937, this ad for Van Camp's Pork and Beans caught my eye for a couple of reasons. First, the models look like real women ... although they are wearing heels with bathing suits. Maybe that's what they did in the 30's? Secondly, the "Meal-in-a-Minute" sounds downright awful.

"Bean Supper Snack ... Only 8 Cents a Serving

 1) Drain 2 cups Van Camp's Pork and beans 2) To the liquid blend in ½ cup peanut butter and ¼ cup Van Camp's Catsup 3) Fold in beans 4) Chill and serve between slices of corned beef on lettuce with mayonnaise and sliced, stuffed olives."

They lost me at peanut butter and catsup ... then I lost everything at "chill and serve between two slices of corned beef."

Where Does She Belong?

I don't know what this means ... Keep her at your feet? Keep her naked on the floor? Keep her so spaced out that she spends hours just staring at shoes?

I do know that today women would be throwing shoes at this ad.

Puppet Heap

I've written about the on-going video series "Exit Row" by Puppet Heap which features two air sick bags, Chuck and Ralph ... get it? The series is funny, but this episode is especially so. Click here to see Chuck and Ralph in "The Foot."