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Brands Can Be Funny, Maybe, With Practice, Courage And Help

Humor is the new jingle the way Xanax will soon be the new dollar. Seriously. "Two pounds of turkey? That'll be three Zoloft, 16 Xanax and a Seroquel." 

The recent awful events in France show us that humor is as dangerous a currency as politics and religion, especially when the subject is religion. Humor is dangerous, flammable. But, like gasoline, it can move a brand forward real fast. 

What’s so funny? Definitely snark, absurdism, authentic humor and mockery, according a new study by New York-base agency Sparks & Honey.  And funny is digital. Thanks to channels like YouTube, Funny or Die, and Comedy Central, Snapchat, Vine, and other social channels, we are becoming groundlings laughing at short-form pratfalls and viral chuckles: “Here’s a photo of Brian Williams riding behind Wilbur at Kitty Hawk.”  

And consumer brands can’t avoid humor, because humor will find the brand. Wesley Luna-Smith, cultural strategist at the agency, told me that, in essence, marketers have to treat humor like a sword: hold it by the handle, not the blade, dummy, and learn some fencing moves. Fit it to the brand voice like a glove and make sure it aligns with core values, and make sure you have “cultural permission” to be funny, or you might find yourself suffering the embarrassing consequences of relieving yourself, figuratively, into a fan.  

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Look at standup, which is not much different from a brand trying to add humor to its personality. Lots of people try standup, and few succeed. Pros will tell you it takes seven years to be any good at it. So, for brands, the easy — or at least easier — way is to leverage a social entertainment phenom who knows what's funny, and has an audience that agrees. 

Luna-Smith, who spoke to me on condition of anonymity — just kidding —  says that there is a harvest of talent out there in L.A. or otherwise, holed up in warehouse studios churning out funnies for Youtube, memes for Vine, Snapchat one-offs, and even biting GIFs. Some are digital stars, YouTube avatars with a huge following, and they are crossing over all the time into big-studio channels, he notes. It’s the “new, new, Hollywood,” as he puts it, and they would be more than happy to let you ride sidesaddle on their fameball express. Or some of them would. “It's is a great way to start by making something that references brand, and reduces the risk factor.” 

Yes, marketers almost have little choice but to follow where humor is leading, and where it is leading is the outer limits of whatever envelope is left. And, as the study shows, less and less of it is happening, or succeeding on TV. Or it is starting there and moving online. And Sparks & Honey points out that the platforms for humor, online and off, are multiplying. 

“The distribution model has clearly changed,” he says. TV humor, as we speak, is migrating to Netflix, Yahoo Screen, etc., and marketers like Honda are taking advantage of that, too. The auto brand is running humorous ads for its Fit car around Yahoo Screen's “Community” that plays on the idea of things you can fit in the back of a Fit, including a pair of hipster minotaurs. 

Luna-Smith says brands should find ways of collaborating with consumers. “Let them create their own content. Tailor humor to the channel. Be humble, never mean spirited." He says the visual isn't everything, and anyone who enjoys a good Amazon, or Rotten Tomatoes review, or BuzzFeed listicle understands that. 

“What we are seeing is that to break through, it is about over-sharing, or being the most crazy or absurd. There has been something like exponential growth in how far to push,” he says. Context is everything. The minefield cliche (maybe “memefield” makes more sense) comes to mind here, but Luna-Smith says you can't really go in with that state of mind. You are either in a position to have a humorous voice or not. 

What's cultural permission? How do you know if you have it? “I think a huge part is listening to consumer audience: what are my followers saying about me? What is the audience tweeting back? Look at semantics, quantify the language. How are people using emojis to do different things?” 

Stand-up again: the cultural permission thing is a lot like whether you're allowed to grab the mike to mock cultural identities. The obvious test is your own cultural identity: if you're Jewish, you can mock Jews all you want. Or if you're gay, or black, or Anglo Saxon, or Druid or pagan. Scientology is anyone's target, unless you're performing at a club in Clearwater. Islam is nobody's territory. You can mock Southern Baptists in Thomasville, Ga., but leave by the rear door. Beyond that? It’s all gut feeling. For comedians, not brands.

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