Sometimes commercials are just boring, pointless, or so over the top that you can’t help but wonder how much money went into making them. But with some of them I would gladly agree with Kim Speier from HubSpot that humor is just flat out great when it comes to some commercials. John Caples, a writer for Psychology for Marketers, goes into a bit more detail on why this is important since quite honestly being funny and in some cases even making light of one’s own product is a way to build a better rapport with the consumer. Victoria C. from Experience even agrees that humor in advertising is an important aspect that makes the products stand out more and actually sell at a greater rate since people see something that looks interesting, engaging, and fun, and will eventually associate that with a quality product or service.
Here are some of the best commercials that have made light of their products.
5. Charmin
Just think about it, years ago this kind of commercial would be seen as something vulgar or at least too juvenile to ever show as a toilet paper commercial. Forget the fact that the technology wasn’t there, it’s more to the point that wiggling your butt in front of a camera screen was seen as something indecent and even controversial. Nowadays though it’s almost like second nature to talk about such things as though they don’t matter as much and are about as problematic as talking about a shaving razor. Plus, if your’e a parent then it becomes easy to relate since picking up after your kid is something that gets old really quickly.
4. State Farm
Bring on the memes with this one since it’s lasted for a while and is still a classic. Of course if you wake up in the middle of the night and your spouse is speaking in breathless tones to someone on the other end of the phone you might get a bit suspicious since it would seem that there’s no call for, whatever a person might think. But when the wife decides to grab the phone and take a listen after demanding to know who it is the commercial just seems even funnier since the poor guy trying to sell insurance is kind of stuck in the moment and has to be honest or just say nothing at all. But yeah, the breathless part is a bit, odd.
3. Snickers
There have been so many of these that picking one of them out of the mix has been kind of tough, but when it comes to Betty White you kind of have to stop and pay attention since she’s just about as funny as anyone and even delivering a couple of lines is enough to get a person rolling. Plus, the whole idea of a Snickers making everything better seems like it might be stretching things just a little bit since if you’ve ever had one of these candy bars they are good but they’re a lot to chew as well, and on the field it doesn’t seem like an optimal plan to start snacking on a candy bar just to get a bit of that old verve back.
2. Bud Light
A lot of people tend to think of Bud Light as a nice alternative to other beers that are a little too heavy and otherwise filled with calories. Then there are those that want something full-bodied and doesn’t taste like water since that’s what a lot of people want to drink in order to actually get drunk without having to run through a case. But all in all Bud Light does put out a good commercial and has managed to create several funny ads during some of the most memorable times in advertising history, such as the Superbowl, when millions of eyes are on the TV and half of them, at least, are waiting to see the commercials. Dilly dilly indeed.
1. M&M’s
M&M’s have been around for so long at this point that coming up with new ideas might seem like it would be insanely difficult , but year after year they seem to be able to find a way to turn out another commercial that just wows us all again. Danny Devito was actually a perfect choice for this role and made it even funnier just by being himself. In the long history of M&M’s it’s been seen that people are bound to buy the candy anyway, but the commercials are kind of like a bonus to the fans. The fact that Red turns out to be a short, bald human kind of makes you wonder what the other candies might look like if they became human.
So quite honestly humor is a good thing when it comes to advertising, it makes people want to actually buy the product.
