Why comedy's making a comeback
'Sadvertising' may be laudable and purpose is praiseworthy but, in advertising terms, comedy is often king. Curro Piqueras, Executive Creative Director at DUDE London argues that making people laugh can be beneficial both to the consumer and the brand.
From TV screens to awards ceremonies, the ‘sadvertising’ trend reigned supreme, and many brands and agencies put worthiness over comedy.
This year's Cannes Lions was all about the purpose driven campaign: values, mission, ethos and social and environmental causes were the order of the day. All perfectly laudable, just not very fun. In fact, I actually overheard a creative referring to the festival as being like "the hospital".
Many brands and agencies put worthiness over comedy.
It's no secret that the last 20 years have seen a steady decline in the use of humour in advertising. Data and insights specialists Kantar recently analysed 200,000 global ads and, in 2020, just a third (34%) made any sort of attempt at humour. That's despite the same research showing that humorous ads are more memorable, more distinctive, and that the brands involved are more recommended by consumers.
Credits
powered by- Agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab/Los Angeles
- Production Company Biscuit Filmworks/USA
- Director Andreas Nilsson
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Credits
powered by- Agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab/Los Angeles
- Production Company Biscuit Filmworks/USA
- Director Andreas Nilsson
![](https://d17mj1ha1c2g57.cloudfront.net/v1/KW9Ja6E8sLaninS2Vkk-3qal6_Q/1024x576%23/80/shotsmag/production/clips/f101f70f-ac04-451d-9177-8cb70d26c4ac/1690794489391.jpg?v=1&quality=80&format=jpeg)
Credits
powered by- Agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab/Los Angeles
- Production Company Biscuit Filmworks/USA
- Director Andreas Nilsson
Above: Over half this year's Film Lion winners at Cannes were comedic, including one of this year's Grand Prix winners.
But there are welcome signs that the trend is reversing and that the industry is learning to laugh. At this year’s Lions, R.I.P Leon bagged the Film Grand Prix, and over half the Film Lions winners (52%) were intentionally humorous. So, why have we been so slow to get the joke?
There’s nothing like a looming recession for brands to shift focus to short term sales and question the value of humour.
Advertisers are dealing with a gloomy economic climate and shrinking budgets. There’s nothing like a looming recession for brands to shift focus to short term sales and question the value of humour. Sure, it entertains people, but will it actually shift products?
The simple answer to that is ‘yes’. At DUDE we are happy to confirm that humour (and sex!) sells. When we launched the Break Up With Your Shower Jet film for Love Not War, someone completely unconnected to us uploaded our video on Reddit. It got almost two million organic views and five thousand shares in less than two days. The brand has never sold so much.
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powered by- Agency DUDE/London
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- Director M&M
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Credits
powered by- Agency DUDE/London
- Director M&M
- Production Company DUDE/Milan
- CCO Hugo Legrand-Nathan
- Post Production Super Partner Birth Paris
- Color Coffee & TV
- Sound Felt Music
- Chief Creative Officer Livio Basoli
- Chief Creative Officer Lorenzo Picchiotti
- Executive Creative Director Curro Piqueras
- Integrated Production Director Matteo Pecorari
- Senior Producer Maria Chiara Muglia
- Copywriter Vic D'Andrea
- Art Director Marta Morientes
- Junior Production Coordinator Francesca Di Donna
- Head of Post Production Seba Morando
- Art Director Sara Nazario
- Copywriter Roberta La Porta
- Post Producer Miriam Ottina
- Editor Federica Ruggeri
- Head of Physical Production Simone Raddi
- Creative Director Tomas Gianelli
- Motion Graphic Artist Gabriele Frigimelica
- DP Luca Costantini
- Executive Producer/Managing Director Kate Elson
- Colorist Tash Hicks
- Composer Massimo Martellotta
![](https://d17mj1ha1c2g57.cloudfront.net/v1/OJY8iYrJkOC2DIhKgDhjyfhCYtw/1024x576%23/80/shotsmag/production/clips/deb86216-29ad-4312-bc9e-1c88bcc06aef/1685718121115.jpg?v=1&quality=80&format=jpeg)
Credits
powered by- Agency DUDE/London
- Director M&M
- Production Company DUDE/Milan
- CCO Hugo Legrand-Nathan
- Post Production Super Partner Birth Paris
- Color Coffee & TV
- Sound Felt Music
- Chief Creative Officer Livio Basoli
- Chief Creative Officer Lorenzo Picchiotti
- Executive Creative Director Curro Piqueras
- Integrated Production Director Matteo Pecorari
- Senior Producer Maria Chiara Muglia
- Copywriter Vic D'Andrea
- Art Director Marta Morientes
- Junior Production Coordinator Francesca Di Donna
- Head of Post Production Seba Morando
- Art Director Sara Nazario
- Copywriter Roberta La Porta
- Post Producer Miriam Ottina
- Editor Federica Ruggeri
- Head of Physical Production Simone Raddi
- Creative Director Tomas Gianelli
- Motion Graphic Artist Gabriele Frigimelica
- DP Luca Costantini
- Executive Producer/Managing Director Kate Elson
- Colorist Tash Hicks
- Composer Massimo Martellotta
Above: DUDE's funny (and sexy) spot for Love Not War was a big win for the brand.
Humour doesn’t just make economic sense. In these gloomy times; where there's a horrific war and we all have post-pandemic PTSD, you could argue the ad industry has actually got a responsibility to our audience. We can make people laugh or feel sad in just about 30 seconds. We can generate relief or anguish. For a moment, we can make people either worry or forget about their problems.
If brands really are looking to make the world a better place, they can do a lot worse than make people laugh.
As Andrew Robertson, President and CEO of BBDO Worldwide, pointed out on a panel in Cannes this year, there is a global rise in unhappiness and, if brands really are looking to make the world a better place, they can do a lot worse than make people laugh while, at the same time, making some money.
While in the awards micro-bubble sad stories and impossible life-saving case studies statistically still beat humour, in the real world, people connect, share and talk about stories that make them feel good. Why else would Joshua Neale's film for CBeebies, Differences, have gone viral on WhatsApp and Instagram, five years after it was first released?
Credits
powered by- Agency Lucky Generals/London
- Production Company Blink Productions
- Director Fred Rowson
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Credits
powered by- Agency Lucky Generals/London
- Production Company Blink Productions
- Director Fred Rowson
- Editorial Stitch
- Editor Samuel Marr
- Post Producer Angela Hart
- Post Production Selected Works
- Executive Producer Alex Fitzgerald
- Creative Director Greg Spencer
- Audio No.8
- Executive Producer Paul Weston
- Producer Andrew Rawson
- Production Manager Jack Bingham
- Director's Assistant Max McLachlan
- DP Stefan Yap
- Audio Sam Robson
- Audio James Benn
- Audio Producer: Karen Noden
![](https://d17mj1ha1c2g57.cloudfront.net/v1/lIUolB4Jlf5MEDAk3YxiERmgHcM/1024x576%23/80/shotsmag/production/clips/3430d59e-35f6-4e37-940c-beaef61bd5a7/1688555821467.jpg?v=1&quality=80&format=jpeg)
Credits
powered by- Agency Lucky Generals/London
- Production Company Blink Productions
- Director Fred Rowson
- Editorial Stitch
- Editor Samuel Marr
- Post Producer Angela Hart
- Post Production Selected Works
- Executive Producer Alex Fitzgerald
- Creative Director Greg Spencer
- Audio No.8
- Executive Producer Paul Weston
- Producer Andrew Rawson
- Production Manager Jack Bingham
- Director's Assistant Max McLachlan
- DP Stefan Yap
- Audio Sam Robson
- Audio James Benn
- Audio Producer: Karen Noden
Above: Lucky Generals were the talk of Yorkshire and beyond with their brilliant campaign for Yoirkshire Tea.
Perhaps humour’s biggest enemy is actually us - the sometimes snobbish (and selfish) advertising culture, where we care more about what our peers think than what the consumer likes. We avoid wordplays because we think they are cheap, but we laugh when we hear them. We tend to favour smart vs dumb, when sometimes the stupidest joke is the one that cuts through. And, of course, we don't like to write silly songs as we are much better than that, right?
Perhaps humour’s biggest enemy is actually us - the sometimes snobbish (and selfish) advertising culture.
But then comes Lucky Generals with their hilarious Yorkshire Tea song, and it’s the only thing we can talk about. Not the chocolate bar fighting for equal pay, not the mobile phone saving coral reefs, or the shoe that connects with your inner childhood fears. None of that stuff. Instead, we’re cracking up about the ‘10k of the good stuff’ line, the suspicious tea bag hidden in the sock to go clubbing, and how we all just want to get ‘lightly caffeinated’.
At the end of the day, we must let go of vanity when we think and approve ideas because, if there was ever a time to do silly, fun and sometimes dumb advertising that makes people laugh, it’s now.