‘Do you have a boring newsletter than comes out irregularly and has all of 17 readers?’

Alas, no.

‘Do you have a newsletter than comes out every Monday, has thousands of readers and makes people grin?’

As it happens, yes. It’s called Brands & Humour. You can subscribe here.

‘My company’s serious. How dare you suggest I look into humour?’

I beg your pardon. Allow me to answer with a graph.

In 2022 researchers wanted to find out people’s most appealing messaging type. They spoke to 2,000 adults looking to buy in a number of categories. Here’s what they discovered:

So it makes sense to explore humour, right? McDonald’s, Snickers, Volkswagen and IKEA have been doing this for years — and rather profitably too.

‘You talk about the science of humour. What do you mean?’

Humour was studied by the ancient philosophers and, in more modern times, by thinkers such as Henri Bergson and Sigmund Freud. Since the 1970s psychologists and marketers have been able to understand and map it with extraordinary precision.

Our knowledge of how humour works profitably and safely in marketing is increasing all the time. You can benefit from this.

‘But there’s a funny copywriter at our ad agency.’

That’s a great start. But does he or she know the right kind of humour for your audience, brand and proposition?

If the answer’s ‘no’, you’d be wise to look into this. Plus your creatives will welcome this, because it’ll make what they do even better.

‘Do you spell it humour or humor?’

Humor if you’re American; humour if you’re not. I’m cool with either.

‘We know all about jokes — what’s a good one and bad one.’

Humour is about much more than jokes: it is a lens through which you and your audiences see the world. Remember: lonely heart ads ask for a ‘GSOH’, not a ‘good ability to deliver rapid-fire jokes’ — which, let’s be honest, would make for a nightmare of a date.

‘Humour’s all subjective.’

A common view but not quite correct. We know why and how humour works with wide audiences. This is why, for example, Volkswagen use it so effectively in 153 countries around the world. Given they have a market cap of $66 billion, they know they’re onto something good.

‘Are you a stand-up comedian?’

No. I’d be awful at it.

‘But can you tell me a joke?’

Did you hear about the cargo ship carrying yoyos?

‘No…’

It sank 44 times.

‘That’s actually pretty good.’

You’re very kind.