• Forbes CMO Marketing, Wednesday, April 21, 2010 12:16 PM

Whether consumers are pinching pennies or not, advertisers want them to loosen up a bit, Ken Bruno reports, with commercials that use humor, colorful images and upbeat language. BMW of North America, for example, has a new "Story of Joy" campaign with print ads featuring happy-looking adults, kids and dogs with headlines that lead off with "Joy is ..."

Then there's Volkswagen's "Punch Dub," which invites the first person to spot a VW to poke a companion on the arm. Procter & Gamble's Old Spice ads feature Isaiah Mustafa as "the man your man could smell like" and feature tickets in an oyster that turn to diamonds (OK, it has got to be seen to be disbelieved ). Microsoft, meanwhile, promotes the idea of carefree travel in ads for its mobile phone brand, Kin.

"There is a market turn toward the positive," Deutsch N.Y. chief creative officer Greg DiNoto tells Bruno. "That's a smart marketing strategy for any brand when you're emerging from a recession. Brands need to be associated with winning."

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