The state of comedy in advertising and why absurdist humor is in

What’s the deal with humor these days? Comedy in advertising is experiencing a significant transformation as brands adapt to the speed of internet trends and memes while accounting for generational differences. Gen Z, for instance, tends to be keen on absurdist humor, a trend that has accelerated as brands try to keep pace with the latest TikTok obsessions. Those embracing the style include Jansport, Kayak and Whataburger, with Reese’s and Drumstick going so far as to put out absurdist Super Bowl ads. See America's Hottest Brands 20 brands that are trending in 2024 Click here Still, certain comedy tenants remain—comedic ads that are based on a truth still resonate, absurdist or not, according to ad agency execs. Weird is in and slapstick is out. Still, execs say a lot of brands are playing it safe, shying away from edgier work. Plus, shops sometimes struggle to hire talent that is into comedy—because of a feeling that awards shows prefer more serious, “purpose” advertising. The majority of Grand Prix-winning campaigns at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity skewed serious, as is typical, but they did include Pop-Tarts’ absurdist edible mascot campaign and CeraVe’s lighthearted Michael Cera social media takeover. Cannes did encourage more amusing entries this year with a new humor subcategory that offered the chance to win Lions across several categories with expressly comic work. Ad Age spoke with several agencies about the state of humor in advertising, how Gen Z comedy is different, what it takes to convince clients to take the funnier ad, the challenge of hiring funny creatives, and how the upcoming election could impact humor. How has humor changed? The shift to absurdist humor is partly a result of social media and internet culture, and partly because society has become more politically correct—jokes about groups of people or stereotypes have decreased, according to agency execs. So creatives have turned to weird humor. But many agree that what makes something funny is the illumination of a core truth, regardless of the generation a brand is trying to reach. “With all humor, there’s good and there’s bad,” said Eric Kallman, founder and chief creative officer of Erich & Kallman, which was behind Hershey Co.’s absurdist Super Bowl ad for Reese’s. “So before or above all else, you have to ask if the joke is funny. Maybe it will skew younger, or maybe the brand wants to talk to moms, but everyone should find it funny.” Kevin Mulroy, executive creative director and founding partner of Mischief @ No Fixed Address agreed. “Finding insightful truths about common shared experience is what makes something funny and that to me has not changed,” he said. “We also tend to find or create an absurd situation and then have actors play it straight. That juxtaposition makes it funny.” Biscuit Filmworks Director Bine Bach, who has worked with Uber Eats, Klarna and Old Spice, says she has seen a shift toward more sophisticated humor in recent years. “I think the classic slapstick joke feels like a thing of the past,” Bach said. “Rather than going big, people go small and see the funny in smaller things or unexpected moments where you may not find humor.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs How Gen Z humor differs As one of the most online generations, a common phrase to describe Gen Z humor is “internet humor.” Natalia Fredericks, creative director at Party Land, described Gen Z humor as being a little dumb and mundane, like someone posting themselves failing at using a TikTok filter correctly. “We understand Gen Z humor as something that takes normal, everyday occurrences and turns them into funny moments,” Fredericks said. “Gen Z is so unserious about it all, while at the same time they want brands to take a stand on more serious topics. They use humor as a coping mechanism.” Check out our Gen Z glossary here Gen Z humor also has an element of nostalgia, which McDonald’s was able to tap into with its Grimace birthday campaign. Even though many Gen Zers won’t experience another birthday at a McDonald’s Playplace, several took the campaign to the next level with the absurdist Grimace Shake TikTok trend. They created mini horror films with the meal’s limited-time berry milkshake, with customers coughing up the purple drink while covered in it. @pxpi_noxh It’s literally so go0o0 #grimace #grimaceshake #fyp ♬ original sound - pxpi_noxh “I think Gen Z humor can have a specific flavor,” said Cam Miller, creative director at McGarrah Jessee. “I think their jokes trend darker—they lost milestones to the pandemic, maybe they feel they aren’t getting ahead due to economic pressures. So those punch lines are often the most unexpected thing possible.” While brands may want to connect with Gen Z, Craig Allen, founder and chief creative officer at Callen, says his team does not try to make something that Gen Z will find funny, but instead focus on whether or not the joke is funny. “We hear that a lot—we need to appeal to Gen Z,” he said. “We ignore that a little bit. Because if you think too much about it, you end up making something that feels like it's trying really hard to be relevant to Gen Z. You don’t want to end up being the old person trying to talk to young people.” The pressure of social media With Gen Z humor being associated with “internet humor,” there is no doubt that social media is impacting what brands and agencies find funny. “Humor in advertising is evolving to be more niche, and TikTok is a part of that,” said Fredericks. “TikTok has a sense of humor that lives in our heads, so we can make them intuitively. So even if an agency is not going for a TikTok strategy, I still think that informs traditional work.” But agency folks agreed that the speed of the internet can make it harder to create that work. Also read: Biggest TikTok trends of 2024 so far Allen and Kallman were part of the team that worked on ads for the famous Skittles “Experience the Rainbow” campaign, which debuted in 2004 from TBWA\Chiat\Day New York and is widely considered an industry gold standard of absurd humor. In 2007, they made “Touch.” “It was a lot easier in the Skittles days because we didn’t have to compete as much against the internet,” said Allen. “If you scroll through TikTok, there are people being absurd on there every minute of every second of every day.” Fredericks pointed out that traditional ads used to take weeks to write and shoot. Now, work that is too slow won’t be relevant when it airs. But there are benefits to the faster pace, including making jokes tighter. “I think writing a great six-second really funny spot is an art in and of itself, the art of reduction,” Mischief’s Mulroy said. He pointed to the agency’s spots for Peet’s Coffee, specifically one where a woman bursts into the hospital room, asking her sister if the unseen patient is ok. Her sister is appalled that she was late because she stopped for coffee. “It’s fast, but it’s still funny because it’s based on a true behavior,” he said. The internet can also help inform humor and get buy-in from clients on ideas. “It can be easier to sell absurd work because you can point to TikTok and show that what we’ve come up with isn’t any crazier than that,” said Allen. “That being said, you can make that case to clients, but a lot of times, they are a little scared to do the absurd.” So you want to be a funny brand Several agency creatives said they have seen brands become skittish about funnier work. Kallman said there have been many times where clients will laugh out loud at one version of an ad, and then smile and nod at another. They buy the “smile and nod” ad. “I think they are buying the thing that feels more like an ad campaign, or more like something they have seen before,” Kallman said. “I get that it might be hard. They are in a boardroom, wearing a suit, making a business decision. They aren’t home on their couch with their spouse and kids, where regular people are going to see the ad.” Miller agreed: “It can feel like brands wonder if they can get away with really good humor,” he said. “Not that it’s risque. I think they wonder if they can be that funny.” Mulroy said that a siloed approval process for all the details is where a humorous brief can fall apart. Also read: O Positive delivered buzzworthy humor in a tumultuous year “What I see is more the little steps along the way, that’s where you can go wrong,” he said. “The way the approval process is set up, it’s like asking a client if they like a certain puzzle piece. They approve individual pieces, but that can need help to fit together at the end.” Still, creative teams are sympathetic to brands going with safer work. “If I have a job and family and a mortgage, and I am just trying to decide on creative work that is effective enough to keep sales going up 2% every year, so that I can keep my job and pay my mortgage—I get that,” Kallman said. “But what if it does work out, and sales go up 15% instead of 2%? You’d be a hero.” Agency executives stressed that brands should trust their agency partners when it comes to humor, and try to remember how funny a joke was the first time they heard it. Mulroy says his team makes sure they are aligned with the client on the end message. “We are really hard on the brief and takeaway message and make sure a client is on board,” he said. “By the time we get to the execution stage, there is a clear line back to why we are doing this.” Bach said that she will check a writer’s reel to ensure they are on the same page about the tone of humor. “I think their humor can be clear from their personal work,” she said. “I sometimes also ask them to send references about the project for what they find funny. If we are not on the same page, I may say no to the project. Otherwise you may fight each other the whole time. We need to laugh at the same things.” Hiring challenges Some executives lamented that it feels harder to hire funny, young creatives. Allen said that advertising students often see the highlights from awards shows, which seem to prize purpose-driven work. New creatives then feel like that is what should be in their portfolio. Allen says the better work is often in the “Other” tab. Also read: Meet the interns who won Cannes gold “They have the gun control ad and the environmental recycling ad, and then here is my ‘other’ tab of clowns stepping on ducks,” Allen said. “I want to hear more about that, why they think that is funny, but they are almost apologetic about it. They are afraid to be themselves.” That’s not the case everywhere. Fredericks said that Party Land’s Gen Z creatives were great testers for the brand’s latest absurd, almost deadpan, Jansport campaign. View this post on Instagram A post shared by JanSport (@jansport) “I think that some of our younger creatives are infinitely funny,” said McGarrah Jessee’s Miller. “If there is a challenge, it's encouraging them to bring that personality to their work. It’s ok to be funny and not write the typical ad. I encourage them to bring in the totally wrong answer and see where the brand could go.” The election The upcoming presidential election does not seem to be impacting clients’ choice to use funny creative, though some marketers said that might change closer to voting time. “It’s another caution filter that clients think about,” said Kallman. “Even not in an election year, when you present creative with a joke in it, clients have to ask, ‘Is it ok for this reason?’ This year they are asking if it's ok in an election year. I think its something that is always on their mind, but I don’t think it adds anything major.” “I don’t think humor should die because of the election,” said Mulroy. “But it’s mostly about being smart and using the right kind of humor.”

The state of comedy in advertising and why absurdist humor is in

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