Humour as a Tool in Advertising

and Promotional Campaigns

Promotional Strategy
Contents:
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 3
Humour Appeals in Major Brands ....................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
 Seagrams Imperail Blue........................................................................ 4-5
 Fevicol: ................................................................................................. 6-8
 5 Star: ................................................................................................ 9-11
 Centre Fresh ..................................................................................... 12-13
CONCLUSION & References............................................................................. 14

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 INTRODUCTION
Humour can be a powerful tool for advertisers to win the attention of their audience. Human brain
anticipates and ignores the predictable and anything humorous have a much more appeal on your
target group. Instead of directly pitching your product to the audience, you entertain the audience.
When products that are relatively low-priced, and often usable, can be exemplified without
providing a lot of facts, and that’s where there’s scope for humour. Chocolates, FMCG & consumer
durables, liquor, tobacco and entertainment related products have often proven to gain the most
from humour in their promotions. As a Marketer you need to relevant with the product and the
consumers when using humour as a tool. Also, one needs to be sensitive to the culture of Target
group because different things are funny to different people, taking care of not hurting people’s
religious or cultural sentiments.

Humour is known to improve the brand equity, it helps show personality that is the human side of a
brand. It executed properly it associates positive feelings about your product in the consumers’
mind. If you ask consumers what is the most memorable advertising they have ever seen, it will
usually be the commercial which has a humorous element to it, hence showcasing the high recall
value humorous appeals have.

According to Kelly & Solomon (1975), there can be seven humour devices:

1. Puns: A play of words which can have two different interpretations

2. Understatement/ Exaggeration: You make something seem less severe in an
understatement which is the exact opposite of an exaggeration. For ex. Man huddled by
women after he wears an axe deodorant
3. Jokes: One of the less appealing humour device without much meaning attached to it. It is
usually irrelevant to the product offerings
4. Ludicrous: Something which is ridiculous and absurd which is completely anti-normal.
5. Satire: Use of humour or exaggeration to critique people’s stupidity or vices particularly in
the context of similar product offerings by competitors
6. Irony: the expression of one's meaning by saying something that normally indicates the
exact opposite, typically for humorous effect.
7. Parody: a comic exaggeration or typically imitation of a writer, artists or a genre.

Advertisers use one or the combination of many categories of humour to persuade their target
audience and to increase their top of the mind awareness and hence the overall brand recall. We

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have chosen four brands i.e., Fevicol, Segrams Imperial Blue, Centre Fresh & 5 Star to further
illustrate the importance of humour in promotional strategies.

HUMOUR APPEALS IN MAJOR BRANDS

1. SEAGRAMS’ IMPERAIL BLUE ADS

The Seagrams’ Imperial Blue “men will be men” series is what we call as a slice of life advertising or
Surrogate advertising. Pertaining to the ban on advertising alcohol in our country, alcohol
companies leverage the power of surrogate advertising to convey their brand identity/message.

The Seagram's Imperial blue ad campaigns showcasing the music CDs are made up of realistic and
day to day life elements and every single ad manages to bring a smile to the faces of the audience, as
a form of light humour. It has been successful in creating the light moments.

The Men will be men tagline/ positioning statement is the innovative idea of advertising giant Ogilvy
& Mather and has been running effectively with the alcohol brand's campaigns for more than 18
years now. Seagram's Imperial Blue was launched in 1997, mainly targets male consumers in the 25-
40 age bracket. It also targets a good chunk of married men who resides in Tier 1, 2 and 3 cities and
is among the working population, this section of men relate most to this campaign.

Designed with moderated humour, these commercials try to connect with the liberal, young Indian
man who is consciously or subconsciously in an endeavour to impress the women or their female
office colleague but is held back by the fact that he is monetarily, bodily and socially handicapped in

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some way or the other. Still the men in the advertisement appear to be very confident or pretend to
be confident, at times they come off as a winner and for most times they embarrass themselves.

The humour element arises from the fact that 'a man' is associated with being habitual beings who
desire for attention (especially from females) and can go the extra mile to come across as
gentlemen, but in crux, are still hopelessly romantic at heart, drooling at the very sight of a woman.

These ads are the simple representation of the kind of conversations men have over a meet or
drinks, which is what makes this campaign very relevant for men. Icing on the cake would be the
Jagjit Sigh’s Ghazal playing on the backdrop “Pyaar ki raah me chalna seekh”.

The ad campaigns streams primarily on television and social media, making men smile at themselves
and women chuckle sneeringly saying, "Men will be men."

Ad name: Men Will Be Men - Imperial Blue – Lift

Scene 1:

Scene 2:

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Ad theme: The theme is “men will be men”. The two men looks like corporates, suppressing their
round bellies, were completely overlooked by the woman who’s talking over a call but then the two
they didn't give up and held their stomach like that until she got out of the elevator

Ad message: The incorrigible nature of men which has never changed over the years, it showcases
the natural reaction of men on suddenly becoming conscious upon seeing a beautiful woman.

Ad theory: This ad uses Surrogate advertising and doesn’t talk about their flagship product which is
the whisky but instead talks about their secondary product which is the music cd. Humour is used as
an appeal to persuade the audience to laugh and hence increase their brand equity.

2. FEVICOL

Majboot Jod

Fevicol, an adhesive brand promotes the bonding both in culturally and social aspects of India. Ogilvy
is the ad partner for Fevicol and has conceptualized a number of ads keeping in mind brand’s needs.

Ad 1: Elephant ad (1997). The first ad:

Ad tagline: ‘Dum laga kar haisha’.

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Ad Message: The tug of war between the elephant and men depicted the strength of the adhesive.
The brand was initially working along the product information message. It talked about the strength
which worked in favor of Fevicol for the 30 years. It openly challenged others to compete in terms of
strength. In the last scene, it is shown that even a mammoth like elephant rests its case and strength
of Fevicol prevails.

Ad Reason: Brand awareness through product information in the Indian context. Since it was the
first ad by Fevicol partnered with Ogilvy, it focused only on the functional properties. The ad
contained jingles which were prevalent in that time of the ad industry.

Ad 2: The egg which cannot break

Ad tagline: ‘Dum laga kar haisha’.

Ad Message: The scene was setup in the kitchen where the cook is making egg bhurji. He tries to
break the egg using multiple ways but fails. The egg then revolves around the room, puncturing the
water container and deflating the bucket. In the end, it was shown that the hen was eating her food
from pidilite container, hence giving enormous strength to the laying eggs.

Ad Reason: Brand was focused on coming up different humorous ads by this time.

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Ad 3: The sofa ad (Ad length – 1 minutes and 30 seconds

Ad tagline: ‘Sofa banaye to dil se banaye’

Ad Message: The journey of well-made sofa which used Fevicol in its inception drew parallel
between the cultural aspects and paradigm changes both Fevicol and sofa made in the last 60 years.
The sofa was handed over by generations of people. It saw many weathers, regions, aesthetics and
usage. Be it the competitiveness, new technology, its use, color, transformation in looks and
functionality, the ad covered every aspect. The main message of the ad was the strength and
persistence it showed towards its users. It was reliable at each and every point of life. The ad ended
with the note ‘sofa banaye to dil se banaye’.

The 1st frame of the ad showed a two-seater wooden sofa, light green in color being transported via
river, keeping in mind that water medium was an essential transport system 60 years back. It was
owned by Mr. Sharma who gifted the same in his daughter’s marriage. When the sister-in-law of
Mrs. Sharma was married, it was then re-gifted to her and the sofa became property of Mrs. Mishra.
The sofa got it’s renovated with lush red fabric and was transported via road. The curiosity of new
sofa has been shown by framing the neighbors who constantly look out for opportunity to see sofa
at all hours. The story unfolded further when the son of Mrs. Mishra became collector and the sofa
now became an integral part of Mrs. Collector’s house. She has been shown sitting on the sofa along
with 4-5 neighbors’ kids watching TV, thereby entering in the era of 2000 when the TV industry was
booming. In the penultimate scene, the daughter of Mrs. Collector married the love of her life who is
a Bengali and took the beloved sofa to her house.

Ad Reason: To show the journey of 60 years of Fevicol. Some key observations:

1. It was addressed to people from all generations, right from 1970s to millennials.
2. The sofa changed its covering material as the time progresses imbibing the point that even
when the front face of the brand changes, the true brand image remains the same.
3. Different societies – Sharmas, Mishras, Bengalis and the Collector. It showed that the
customers of Pidilite comes from all stratas of the society.

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 4. The sofa saw all types of weather for a prolonged period of 60 years showcasing the
strength and bonding between people through their relationships. Daughter-Father, Sister-
Sister, Mother-son, Father-Daughter.
5. The sofa became an integral part of people’s life, thereby defining the lifestyle ad making (ad
theme) by Fevicol. People consider furniture to be part of their home and only parts with
them on the occasion of life-events such as marriage or disaster. In the earlier ads of Fevicol,
humour only in the one context was set-up like kitchen, fishing, and transportation. Here,
the ad took a holistic approach in defining various life moments which one considers
important and valuable. Pidilite places itself in all those moments of its customers not only
by adding to the aesthetic value but also the strength one needs to continue the journey of
self – the journey of life. Hence, connecting with its users on the philosophical level too.
6. It even showcased the changed transport system – waterways, roadways. The role of TV,
education and technology helped in marking Pidilite’s journey towards the highest customer
satisfaction level. Leveraging the environment and embracing the new technologies, Pidilite
advanced itself not only in the product delivery but also in the customer services. The
strategy of Pidilite changed in terms of customer acquisition, dealerships, vendor
management, distribution channels, number of product offerings, product specialty and so
on. The strategy was in sync with its vision of ‘being the most innovative research and
technical competence center for sustaining “innovation-driven” growths’.
7. End note – It is the love of the fevicol which is still alive in the sofa and in the hearts of
people. The last line conveyed the emotional connect which people have felt towards Pidilite
brand, thereby promoting brand loyalty beyond measures

3. 5 STAR

Ad name: 5 Star – Ramesh Suresh

‘Jo khaaye, kho jaaye’

Ad theme: ‘Lost in the taste of 5 star’

About the campaign

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It is one of the longest running ad campaigns by Cadbury, running into its 13th year in 2019. It
protagonists are twin brothers Ramesh and Suresh, who stand out because of their goofy nature. In
the original advertisement launched in 2006, the twins go into a trance whenever they take a bite of
Cadbury 5-star.

The campaign had two commercials at the beginning - 'Shopkeeper' and 'Tailor' -- in which
the twins eat 5-Star and forget what they’re doing and keep repeating the same thing again
and again.

In the latest advertisement conceptualized by Ogilvy & Mather, Ramesh and Suresh go to a Cadbury
shop right outside a bank to buy 5-star. While they get lost in the caramel-chocolate of the 5 Star, a
robbery takes place behind them. A gang of robbers who’d planned on robbing the bank, park their
van outside and get inside the bank. Meanwhile, the forgetful duo, unaware of what’s happening, get
into the empty van. The bank robbers, who are unaware of the duo have just stacked the money
through the back van. Ramesh and Suresh drive away with the bank loot while the four bank robbers
are seen desperately trying to catch up with them on a bicycle.

About 5-star

5-star is different from other chocolates because of the ingredients that it uses. It contains Noga,
caramel, peanuts, nuts & chocolate. It is not simply a chocolate bar, it can be used as a snack as well.

Before the Ramesh-Suresh campaign, the positioning of 5-star was that of togetherness, hunger,
energy, and soft chew. However, with time competing brands came out with similar products and 5-
star started losing relevance. It was important for the brand to win back young adults, which were its
primary customer. “The purpose behind the Ramesh-Suresh campaign, from a marketing
communication standpoint, was to elevate 5-star from a familiar friend, to being an urban youth
symbol”, according to Prashant Peres, Director, Marketing(Chocolates), Mondelez India. [1]

Ad message - Use of humor

The main challenge for any marketer is to capture attention and no thing captures attention like well-
executed humor. Not only in television advertisements, but also on the internet and in magazines,
humour is used as a trigger to get attention.

The Ramesh Suresh campaign uses humor to get its message across to the audience. The twins always
find themselves in humorous situations involving 5-star. The campaign has over the years come up
with many stories which revolve around this theme. The thought behind using the characters is that
people remember their names & faces because of the stories that they see them in.

Ad impact

Eccentric and quirky, Ramesh and Suresh have helped the brand generate strong recall and
continue to be much remembered by customers. In fact, the twins have become synonymous
with 5-Star. The success of the campaign can be judged from the fact that even if customers
don’t remember the name of the brand, they ask shopkeepers for ‘Ramesh-Suresh wali

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chocolate’. The latest survey by Livemint to evaluate the Ad Reach Index of the most popular
campaigns in India, shows 5-star with the maximum Ad Reach score of 71. [2]

Ad Reach Index = Awareness x Brand Recall

As per Nielsen MS YTD September 2016, Cadbury 5Star product dominates the count line
segment in the Indian chocolate category with approximately 67 per cent share of the count
line segment.

Ad theory

If the storyline is interesting, the audience identifies with characters that are involved in it.
Repeated variations of the storyline helps developing a culture of jokes, anecdotes and
references around advertisements featuring them. After a humorous or engaging character is
created, the viewer is able to quickly grasp the message of the commercial . When the
character appears in a another advertisement by the brand, the viewer remembers him/her
from the earlier communication, thus reinforcing the message.

The use of humor has very subtly transformed the 5-star brand to epitomize sensation of being ‘Lost
in Taste’, which is a luxury for youngsters with their hectic schedules. It gives an opportunity to forget
everything and enjoy 5-star. Eccentricity, similar to this campaign, is used by marketers to create
greater remembrance of the brand, in times where consumers are inundated with marketing
communication. Quirkiness makes the advertisement stand out from other communications.

Once the brand has been successfully differentiated as humoristic the value of the humour reflected
to branding heightens over time. The consumers may implement the past experience in to present.
I.e. consumers implement the image of being funny prior seeing the advertisement, thus setting a
mindset for themselves ultimately seeing the advertisement funnier than it actually is. Positive brand
attitude enables to utilize humour as a more effective persuasion tactic and positively effects brand
evaluation. (Marc Järvinen, 2013)[3]

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Challenges

The challenge in the 5-star campaign was using the same faces, or in this case, the twins, again and
again. If similar characters are used for so long can, it can lead to the campaign becoming boring for
customers. It requires constant innovation, with quirks and situations which are refreshing every time
for the audience.

“Kitkat”, which has a tag-line of ‘take a break’ with Kitkat, has a very similar underlying message of
taking a break from the hectic schedule of life. It was very important for 5-star not to propagate the
same message.

4. CENTRE FRESH

Centre fresh, the famous chewing gum brand by Perfetti Van Mell advertisements have long
followed a pattern of including a ludicrous form of humour in their advertising.
The application of ludicrousness as a humour device can be defined as “something that is ridiculous
and can be explained as something that is completely the opposite of things that are the norm.
Advertisements containing ludicrousness are funny because, as the name suggests, they are
ridiculous.
Marketing director of PVM, Rohit Kapoor, in an interview, said humour was an important way to
deliver clutter-breaking and memorable campaigns to drive top-of-mind brand recall.
Chewing gums and confectionary being an impulse purchase for most, it is imperative for the brand
to take measures to drive top of the mind recall as it drives purchase decision in the market. Humour
effectively delivers these campaigns to the target, which is the youth who is tech-savvy and is
constantly presented with communications from brands on a daily basis.

Advertisement Campaign 1: Zubaan pe Rakhe Lagaam

Ad Message: Above we see the example of 'Zubaan pe Rakhe Lagaam' campaign of Centre fresh
which was a series of ads revolving around the campaign name.
Centre fresh, in this particular ad campaign, plays along the lines of how talking too much at the
wrong time can land a person into trouble and how chewing centre fresh keeps us out of this
trouble.

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The background sound/music, the script and the characters are all such that add an element of
humour to it. The storytelling is in a simple and has recognisable plotlines with the conflict or twist
occurring when one of the characters speaks a little too soon and lands up in trouble. The moral is
clearly communicated: Centre fresh keeps you from speaking too much and keeps control over your
tongue.
Ad Reason: The campaign was created to increase brand awareness and linking towards the brand.

Advertisement Campaign 2: Taazi Saans, hamesha Rakho Paas

Ad Message: The ad which was made in collaboration with creative agency Ogilvy, features the new
Centre fresh Gum which is a specially formulated combination of a gel with cooling ingredients
placed between layers of gum with a promise of ‘fresh breath that lasts long’. The brand is basically
targeting consumers who are on- the- go and lead active lifestyles. For them, this becomes a go-to
product in terms of fresh breath for prolonged durations. The communication uses elements of
humor to effectively capture the interest of the audience.

Ad Reason: The primary purpose of this ad is to create awareness about a new product launch.
Humor has a positive effect in recalling the brand. Samantha's confident & energetic personality
resonates with that of the brand which is imperative for a healthy connect with consumers.

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Advertising Campaign 3: Chali Hawa Mastani

Ad Message: The campaign, developed in collaboration with Ogilvy & Mather, intends to highlight
the new Center Fresh with the same taste but with a greater degree of cooling & further strengthen
the freshness element of the brand. The campaign effectively communicates product improvement
with an element of humour to keep things interesting while using the tag line ‘Chali hawa mastani’
to deliver the product benefit of ‘freshness and coolness’.

Ad Reason: the purpose of this campaign is to bring to consumer's attention the product innovation
while at the same time fortifying the concept of 'Freshness and coolness' that the brand is built
around.

CONCLUSION:
Humour can be an effective tool for advertisers to win the attention of their audience. But what’s
the most effective use of humour in advertising?
Advertisers have long realized that humor can pierce the enormous clutter of advertising. This
insight is incredibly valuable since it’s also well-known that the human brain anticipates and ignores
the predictable.

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But persuasion is more than just capturing the attention of your audience. When you rely too heavily
on all that is cute and clever, like dog videos, what happens is that the ad will fail to persuade.
Without a whiff of relevancy, people will recall that the ad was funny, but they will never remember
the message or the product the ad was intending to promote. Relevancy is the almighty filter used
by the human brain to discount that which is unimportant.
Roy H. Williams, sums it up brilliantly, “Never use humour that doesn’t reinforce the principal point
of your ad." The cardinal rule of using humour is that if remembering the humour forces you to
recall the message of the ad, the humour is motivated which is an excellent outcome.
But if recalling the humour doesn’t put the product concerned in memory of the ad’s main point, the
humour is unmotivated and will make the ad less effective. Though people will like the ad, they just
won’t buy the product being sold.

REFERENCES:
https://bestmediainfo.com/2016/11/cadbury-5star-the-11-year-old-journey-of-ramesh-suresh-wali-
chocolate/

https://in.mondelezinternational.com/~/media/mondelezcorporate/in/uploads/newsroom/5%20sta
r%20tastes%20success.pdf?la=en

Marc Järvinen, 2013, Humour as a marketing communications tool

https://www.livemint.com/industry/media/at-60-fevicol-sticks-to-quirky-advertising-to-woo-
consumers-1566974674135.html

https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/advertising/pidilites-fevicol-returns-with-
its-mazboot-jodh/70918628

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTDqVnd7zXw
https://www.pidilite.com.sg/about-us/vision-and-mission/

https://www.edtimes.in/these-imperial-blue-ads-are-a-hilarious-take-on-why-men-will-be-men/

http://www.socialsamosa.com/2017/12/men-will-be-men-campaigns/

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