Before kicking off: this month I’m offering 30 x 30 minute sessions to 30 brands. You can ask me anything about using humour in your comms.
Last year I did this and spoke to brands like Kayak, Allied Irish Banks and Zipcar; so far I’ve talked to people in New York, Memphis, Lagos, Sydney, Rio, Hakodate (こんにちは Masashi!) and dotted around Europe.
The cost? $0.
Interested? Places are nearly all gone, so don’t dawdle. Just pop here and book your half hour.
Now down to business…
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This newsletter is called Brands & Humour. On the face it, this seems pretty simple. I can talk about a brand like:
…And I can talk about humour:
…And typically I look at how these work together in ads, like this lovely one for breath-freshener:
All very rosy (except for the poor paramedics).
But there’s more serious side to it... in terms of brands, I could include ads by fossil-fuel companies, such as Chevron. This is a company that reported $35.5bn profits last year; however, 93% of its carbon-offsetting programme is seen as ‘worthless or junk’1.
In short? They’re green-washing.
In terms of humour, I could talk about, say, the work of Russell Brand, who earlier this autumn was publicly accused of rape, sexual and emotional abuse by five women. Just this month he was accused, in court in New York, of sexual assault on the film set of Arthur. He denies all allegations. Legal proceedings are continuing.
So! To what extent do ethics come into this?
Four thoughts:
1.
There’s no cut-and-dried line.
This might sound like an easy cop-out, but I choose things on a case-by-case basis. You might well argue that alcohol, for example, is an addictive substance — which it definitely is — and it causes far more deaths than illegal drugs — which it definitely does2 — and therefore there shouldn’t be any beer ads in B&H.
But the vast majority of people drink responsibly. Moreover, to have no alcohol ads would mean missing out on gems like this:
2.
There should be room for debate.
Sometimes I’ll try to debate the merits of an ad. This ad for Club 18-30 (below) came out in 1997. It did well, in ad industry terms at least, winning a D&AD Graphite Pencil.
But now? In our era of #metoo, this feels less comfortable: calling a woman a ‘bird’, and suggesting that the only reason women go on holiday is to get laid and — simultaneously — have all the fun of staring at a swinging light-bulb.
Hmmmm.
Part of my job is finding out, along with my clients, where the boundaries now lie. This is an ongoing job.
3.
If something is offensive, I’ll flag it up.
Sometimes, I’ll include an ad that is offensive and clearly state this. A good example is Just for Feet’s Kenyan Runner ad, which I wrote about earlier this year. Many commentators have said that this Super Bowl ad triggered the downfall of the company which spectacularly filed for bankruptcy less than a year after it appeared (and this was a company going places, with profits in excess of $500m in 1998). Bizarrely, the brand is now mainly remembered for this ad: a remarkable example of self-destruction.
4.
You can dislike the product, but learn from the technique.
This is a key point. In a way, the product doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we learn from the technique. For example, I’ve long admired this ad for a pistol range in Burnsville, Minnesota:
Now, of course, there is a counter-argument that says the ad encourages people to use their guns in a country in which mass shootings are a major problem. Guns are now the leading cause of death for US children and teens, surpassing car accidents in 20203.
But the technique?
The technique is masterly. And that’s what we can learn from.
Working in this area, I often touch on areas of ethics, taste and morality. Some people would see this as a burden; personally, I see it as quite the opposite. Societies change, humour norms change, brands change. And many things don’t change. Being able to assess things, and make an informed judgement, is critical.
All this said, I don’t want to finish this issue of B&H on a po-faced note.
Time for another breath-freshener ad? Ah, go on.
Many thanks for reading,
Paddy
Book a meeting with me here
pg@studiogilmore.com
+44 7866 538 233
LinkedIn: here
Instagram: @mrpaddygilmore