Comedy's Decline Is No Laughing Matter
By Martin Agency SVP Group Creative Director Neel Williams
[ Illustration By Marty Design Resident Randee Rose Joven ]
As any good self-loathing ad person knows—Cannes is the crescendo of the creative awards season. Its wake leaves us all foaming with envy, frothing with desire for more mooore moooooore metal in 2022, or swearing off awards and advertising douchepompery entirely. No matter where you fall on the spectrum, now is certainly a time for reflection.
One trend worth noting across award shows this year is a lack of comedy and comedic brands rising to the top. That’s not just a 2021 thing, either. It seems to be a continuation of a long-lasting industry skew away from work of the knee-slapping variety.
But really, who cares about comedy? Well, I’m creative director on a comedy brand, sooo…I do!
That’s not the only reason though. I care about the apparent decline of comedic advertising because—frankly, humor is delightful. It’s also one of the most effective devices in an agency’s brand-building bag o’ tricks.
In “Lemon: How the Advertising Brain Turned Sour,” author Orlando Wood makes a strong case for right-brained creativity in an increasingly left-brained industry. Amusement and comedic surprise are proven to help make marketing messages stick and build brand loyalty that lasts. Through a mix of research and neuroscience, Wood found “humour” to be one of the most critical tools for creatives. “It enables you to reach the parts that more literal communication simply can’t reach. It helps you to connect and makes you more memorable.” Or to re-imagine British ad legend John Webster’s famous Heineken tagline: “It refreshes the parts of consumers’ brains that other tones cannot reach.”
If comedic work tends to be more entertaining, memorable and effective—then why isn’t it celebrated within the industry? And if comedy is a proven force-multiplier, then why are both brands and agencies shying away to their own apparent detriment?
Laughter Lost In Translation
As this year’s Cannes Film Jury President and adam&eveDDB CCO, Rick Brim, told Adweek: “Comedy is such a strange thing to judge because we are all different because of our different life experiences, views on society and in culture. What makes me laugh is different from what makes you laugh—and it is different from somebody down in Australia.”
Understandably, it’s a lot easier to agree upon something emotionally or socially charged. Those types of projects feel big, important, undeniable no matter where you’re from. However, Orlando Wood’s analysis of effective work strongly recommends that brands must lean into cultural nuance, innuendo and colloquial shorthand to truly connect with consumers. The very things that will result in 2s and 10s in a jury room as opposed to 8s all around. In other words, the difference between Shortlist and Silver.
Some might also chalk up the current situation to talent, or lack thereof, saying “no one writes good comedy anymore” (before doffing their top hat and pedaling off on a penny-farthing).
That’s just not true. At least not in my personal experience, focus group of one here. If I had a Dogecoin for every time I sharply exhaled through my nose with amusement during GEICO creative reviews this week, I’d be rich enough to buy a cup of high-end drip coffee. And if puns, talking animals and remixed ‘90s hip-hop lyrics aren’t your thing—there are certainly other examples of top-notch humo(u)r that are alive and kicking.
I’ve gazed across the pond with a mix of pride and professional envy at Droga5 London’s work for clients like Amazon, Rustlers and Setappto name a few. Pockets of strong comedy certainly exist within agencies and industries, but it’s become more of a niche than a linchpin. The talent is there, the opportunity is rife. What gives?!
Tension Makes People Tense
The biggest contemporary culprit scaring marketers off the comedy train can be summarized with a single word: fear. In a world where middle grounds have become razor thin and almost everything can become a charged subject, the path of least resistance has become more magnetic than ever.
Most people, and certainly most brands, are so terrified of potentially offending even one person that they stick to the 110% safe and socially acceptable script. A script where, if any joy is to be found, it tends to be of the saccharine and soulless variety. Maybe a squeeze of comedy with a lower case “c,” but nothing further. A little three-second joke 22 seconds into your video.
Comedy with a capital “C” requires friction. It demands tension. It takes a swing knowing that it may not connect everywhere all the time. Exactly those attributes that make work more susceptible to critique. Just to be clear, I am not advocating for anything overtly or intentionally offensive. Far from it. This is more about mindset: promoting an openness to joyful work that channels more charm and encourages less defensiveness.
In a December 2020 rallying cry to marketers, M.T. Fletcher wrote: “Fear is not good for the business of brands. Fear displaces art from commerce and chills the lifeblood of the industry.” Fletcher then drove home the real result of starting on your back foot as a brand: “When [clients and agencies] are too stressed to think big thoughts, ideas get smaller and more disposable. That’s the reason brand recall has plummeted, the same reason your advertising can’t break through. Iconic campaigns are more likely to be found on historical reels than anything made in the last 10 years.”
Sometimes what feels safer in the short-term is more dangerous over the long haul. We must remind ourselves to take a step back and look beyond the ends of our noses. And, especially within the creative community, beyond our own navels.
The Self-Fulfilling Cycle
Call me crazy but as I watched way too much TV in the ‘80s, I fell in love with advertising for its ability to sell pedestrian stuff in a fun way. Chewing gum. Soap. Toys. Condiments. Maybe some child somewhere has thought “I want to cure cancer” and opted for a career in advertising instead of medicine because they saw the industry’s superior potential to change the world. But that child was not me.
Not surprisingly, I owned several whoopee cushions growing up.
Yes, some brands absolutely should be making work that puts them into the conversation about politics, race, equality and climate change. Most of the time, brands simply need to sell a good or service in a memorable way. Not to say a social media activation can’t stop the ice caps from melting AND sell more toothpaste. I still have a lot of heart, though, for advertising’s oldest, greatest challenge: turning a paid interruption into something that actually entertains, surprises and delights.
Over the past decade there has undoubtedly been a proliferation of “causevertising” in awards shows. Very serious stuff. Some of it truly inspiring and game-changing, perhaps to a fault. You see, creatives look to awards shows for inspiration. Then creatives make work similar to what’s winning awards so they can try to win—you guessed it—more awards. Rinse and repeat the cycle long enough and industry trends emerge that become unmoored from cultural resonance and long-term effectiveness, leaving consumers and brands as afterthoughts more than strategic anchors.
In his 2019 report, Peter Field analyzed decades of award-winning work and concluded: “Awarded campaigns are now less effective than they have ever been in the entire 24-year run of data and are now no more effective than non-awarded campaigns.” Field’s study measures effectiveness through reports of “large scale business effects” such as profit, sales, market share, penetration and loyalty. It’s worth noting the decline seemed to begin around 2008, and that effectiveness has consistently atrophied through the present.
Don’t get me wrong, this is all coming from a place of love. I think awards are essential to helping highlight the best and brightest thinkers around the globe. Whether high-impact or not, the work is alwaysinspiring. I also don’t think this is some malicious scheme hatched by Big Awardsvertising to wipe comedy and brand-building from the map. Rather, I see it as an unintended side effect we should all keep our eyes on—inside and out of jury rooms. Especially when the consequences can be existential.
Fight For The Funny Bone
It’s been a challenging year-plus for most folks on planet earth. Admittedly, way more challenging for some. The issues on our screens and in our feeds, streets and homes are the most serious issues of all time. I mean, the government basically admitted that UFOs are REAL, and no one found it that interesting or important!
Which is all to say the world could use a laugh.
Not to distract from what matters, but to help balance our collective sanity. Now more than ever, comedic entertainment has the opportunity to connect, engage and break through. When well executed, comedy offers a turbo boost toward fame. After all, making work so enjoyable and so well-known that it weaves itself into the fabric of culture should be the ultimate goal of most advertising, right? Not just ad culture, either, but the real world that contains everyone from your little nephew to your grandmother.
Jeff Goodby and Mike Hughes both called it the “taxi cab test,” though perhaps now it’s the “Lyft litmus.” You hop in, your driver asks what you do, and then they ask if you’ve done anything they’d know about. Hmmm. My guess is that most of the things your driver would remember are work that made them smile.
Now, I know how fortunate I am to work on a brand that’s seen comedy correlate to business growth for decades. And, to work with amazing clients who treasure their comedic voice and tone like the crown jewels they are. So all this is easy for me to say.
Stay with me on this, please, because every humorous odyssey starts with an awkward first step.
Brands willing to wade into the waters of Lake LOLagain stand ready to reap great rewards. Though it’s certainly not a free ride. It’s hard to make someone laugh—really laugh—without some risk involved. With great entertainment power comes great responsibility! Despite its seeming frivolity, comedy is a serious business. It requires more thought and self-awareness than ever. We’re well past the days of “throw it on the wall and see what sticks.” If agencies and clients can lock arms, commit to Comedy, and strike the right mixture of engaging entertainment and ability to read the cultural room—there’s still plenty of gold in them thar hills.
And maybe, just maybe, that Comedy gold and brand loyalty gold will turn back into awards show gold. How’s that for a virtuous cycle? This silly ad boy can dream, at least.
We want to hear and see from you, too. If you’re itching to know something or have a question or comment we can start a dialogue on—email: katie.walley-wiegert@martinagency.com.
