Let’s Bring Back Humor in Advertising

A few weeks ago I was joking with my son Jack at a restaurant. He asked, “What’s the soup du jour?” I replied, “I don’t know, but they have it every day.” The line was not an original one. I first heard it as a kid in a Lite Beer ad, featuring NFL legends Dick Butkus and Bubba Smith.

The Lite Beer ads from the 70s and 80s were always humorous. So were the Bud Light ads over the last 25 years until they decided to “change direction.” Humor in advertising has always been a great way to get people to have an emotional reaction to a brand, which makes them easier to remember. That Miller Lite joke was remembered after more than 40 years.

A recent Oracle survey found that 91% of consumers want humorous ads, yet less than 20% of all ads are humorous. According to recent studies, including Kantar the market research firm, the use of humor in advertising has seen a dramatic decline since the beginning of the Great Recession in 2009. It took another dive during the Pandemic, just when we needed humor the most.

Experts say there are several factors for the decline in humor in advertising: 

1) a never-ending saga of bad news #permacrisis 

2) the Pandora’s Box of #cancelculture 

3) the differences in generational humor #boomerhumor

But I believe there is a far more fundamental reason that exists for the decline of humor in ads. In my opinion, brands have become more risk-averse, because most of today’s CEOs have been taught to avoid risk. Some learned it when getting their MBA and others come from career fields that are risk-averse to begin with, like accounting. (1 in 4 current Fortune 500 CEOs have an accounting background.)

Humor has always been a tad bit risky as a strategy. What if the joke falls flat? Suppose the target audience laughs, but forgets the product? But risk, and the ability to take risks, are fundamental to achieving business success. Business owners and business leaders who take risks get rewarded.

Nearly every ad industry publication (AdAge, Adweek, etc.) has penned articles imploring agencies to “up their game” and bring back humor in advertising. It’s the main topic in ad agency boardrooms and industry conferences. Why? Consumers demand it and it WORKS. If you are a biz owner or CEO, I implore you to re-think risk and add some humor to your humorless brand image. I’ve said it a thousand times; Bold Brands Win.