Brand Advertising and Humor

Given that (a) most people multitask, (b) there are so many distractions and (c) people can ignore or skip ads these days, it's important to create ads that capture people's attention from the very beginning. And it is helpful for those ads to be entertaining throughout. 

Luckily, there are a bumper crop of funny ads these days. GEICO started this trend in the insurance industry with its cute little gecko. Its ad campaigns have evolved over the years but they still are funny in very unexpected ways. Here are some examples of GEICO ads. One of the things they do well is integrate the key message into the ad ("You can save 15% or more on car insurance") in a very clear manner. 

While GEICO started the funny ad trend in the insurance industry, many insurance companies have followed suit. I also like the Farmers Insurance Hall of Claims commercials. They have a consistent feeling, a consistent spokesperson, a consistent message ("We know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two.") and the familiar jingle at the end - "We are Farmers. Bump da bump bump bump bump bump." Here are some examples of those. 

Dos Equis' "The Most Interesting Man in the World" series of ads is also a highly entertaining campaign. And the message is always the same - "I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis. Stay thirsty my friends." Here is an example of some of these ads. 

More recently, the Wonderful Pistachios Commercials have infused some humor in selling Wonderful Pistachios. Here is one example of this series of ads.

If you can integrate your key brand message into ads that are highly entertaining and that have coherence, you have a better chance of breaking through the commercial clutter.