Using humour to attract attention to an ad is nothing new, it’s an effective way to hold interest and improve recall. More often, I’m seeing humour being used in the form of parody advertising.
Can parody advertising be used for products of a more serious nature such as aged care or funeral homes?
Yes we can!
Check out Mount Pleasant Group’s parody of the Fitbit – appropriately called the QUITBIT (watch it to the end it’s worth it).
Older people appreciate humour just as much as young people, so is there really any excuse why we aren’t using it in our promotions? Well maybe.
When using humour there are a few things to be mindful of:
- It can be difficult to be funny whilst sticking with your established tone, heritage and background
- Once you choose to use humour you need to stick with it e.g. Aldi. A one-off will be forgotten
- It can get expensive – humour is a form of creativity; creativity doesn’t come cheap
When using parody in particular you can run the risk of copy right infringement. Ensure your ad is different enough from the original you are spoofing.
Our recommendation … parody campaigns are a worthwhile investment, not only to achieve reach but to demonstrate the personality of your brand. Be prepared to get out of your comfort zone, spend some dollars and stick with it. Also, please be tasteful.
Allison
