What are you laughing at?
If the answer is “nothing,” then you need to read this post!
Humor can be a highly effective element in marketing campaigns, whether the goal is get people laughing at our competitors, at themselves, or even at us.
Kick back, relax for a few minutes, and check out these 24 examples of some of the best marketing and business humor of the past year or so.
The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made by Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand celebrates it’s tie in with the popular Hobbit Trilogy movie franchise by creating quite possibly the best airplane safety video ever (though Southwest Airlines does a pretty awesome job with this as well).
A very clever twist on a horror classic.
3 PPC Fails That Can Hurt Your Brand by ClickZ
Michelle Morehouse provides serious advice on pitfalls to avoid in PPC advertising, but uses unusually entertaining examples to illustrate her points, including “The World’s Worst Website” and this:
New WGN Morning News ‘promo:’ Nobody f#@king likes you by WGN TV
First, THIS is how to handle complaint trolls, and second, it’s also how to make weekday morning news shows actually seem interesting.
What This Guy Has Done With These Photos Is Totally Brilliant by ViralSpell
While PhotoShopping is nothing new, this guy’s work really is amazing. Check out this eight-image collection.
Parallel Consumerverse: If Retailers Were Like Google | The Checkout
Inappropriate search suggestion autocomplete, irrelevant search results, creepy re-marketing ads…this video brilliantly nails it all.
The 18 Most Hilarious And Clever Print Ads Ever by Business Insider
Okay, perhaps not most hilarious and clever ever, but certainly amusing and worth wasting a few minutes with.
12 Smart Jokes That Make You Sound Like a Genius by Reader’s Digest
Andy Simmons presents a dozen jokes that will make people think. Or at least make them think you’re a nerd. Sample: Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocaine during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.
Strategic Humor: Cartoons from the March 2014 Issue by Harvard Business Review
Josh Olejarz showcases cartoon caption winners from HBR.
Strategic Humor: Cartoons from the November 2014 Issue by Harvard Business Review
If you enjoyed the cartoons above, check out this updated collection.
25 hilariously unexplainable images by Just something (creative)
Just a collection of images that, as the title of the post implies, defy explanation. Really.
17 Cartoons that Will Change Your Business by Brian Solis
Brian Solis shares a collection of cartoons created by Hugh MacLeod for Brian’s book, What’s the Future of Business. This post highlights the first cartoon, all of which are compiled in a Slideshare presentation.
The Hundred Best Lists of All Time by The New Yorker
Not all of the lists on this list of lists compiled by Gary Belsky are funny per se, but the list is quite extraordinary. Some of the lists are actually useful (e.g., U.S. News and World Report’s best-college rankings and “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”) while others are…just interesting (such as The World Rock Paper Scissors player’s responsibility code and the 1927 Yankees’ opening-day lineup).
Dracula’s LinkedIn Profile by Social Media Today
This is actually a serious post from Celina Guerrero on how to optimize your LinkedIn profile, but it creatively uses Count Dracula’s LinkedIn account as an example.
20 Funny Tweets Your Brand Should Take Seriously by Mashable
Max Knoblauch shares a collection of brand tweets that are funny, creative, or in some cases, just plain odd. But they seemed to resonate with Twitterers.
“#Hashtag” with Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon)
On the off-chance you haven’t already seen this – Jimmy Fallon and JT spoof hashtags, showing “what a Twitter conversation sounds like in real life.”
10 hilarious digital media parodies by iMedia Connection
From “Catvertising” to “Are Chairs Like Facebook” to “I Have Timeline” to “”CIA’s ‘Facebook’ Program Dramatically Cuts Agency’s Costs,” here are 10 of the best spoofs and satires of digital marketing and media. Some are a bit dated, but still funny.
9 of the craziest PR and social media requests by Ragan’s PR Daily
Writing “With the assistance of Help A Reporter Out (HARO), I wanted to document some of the craziest, most absurd requests or assignments PR and social media professionals have received,” Ryan Greives has compiled quite a list here, with such gems as ““Please have Matt Lauer read this exact script” and “Get Queen Noor and NASA on the phone.” Enough to make PR pros laugh (or maybe cry).
Digital Marketing Buzzword Bingo by Digital Growth
For some interactive fun, Luke Chapman offers a downloadable digital marketing buzzword (Key Influencers, Halo Effect, Content is King, etc.) bingo card to print and bring along to your next marketing meeting or seminar. “Cross out a square each time you hear the buzzword. When you have an entire row crossed out, stand up and shout ‘BINGO!'” Something you probably don’t want to try when your boss is speaking.
THIS JUST IN: Harvard professor explains how to perfectly market on mobile by iMedia Connection
Harvard professor of network marketing Ellis Fowler has provided a step-by-step guide to mobile marketing, and reportedly “doesn’t understand why digital marketers find mobile so confusing.” I won’t spoil it, but this is worth a quick look.
5 Funniest Pinterest Parodies by SEO Chat
The wild success of Pinterest has inspired the creation of other photo-sharing platforms, but also some parodies. Here are five rather interesting sites designed to playfully mock the original, including Pinstrosity (which includes categories “like missing directions, misprinted supplies, cleaning tips gone awry, DIY project fails and less than stellar recipes”) and Really Pinterest?, a showcase for some of the oddest shared images, like this one.
12 Vertical Social Networking Sites You May Not Know Of by TwittNotes
Sure, LinkedIn is for professionals, Pinterest is for sharing recipes, and Snapchat is for exhibitionists, but this collection of specialty social networks goes way beyond. There’s Ravelry, a network just for “knitters, weavers, spinners, and crocheters”; Catster, a community for cat lovers (ExcitedCats is another); and many more.
20 Worst Advertising Placement Fails by Bored Panda
When good creative meets bad placement, the results can be embarrassing for brands, but funny for everyone else. Check out these unfortunate but amusing examples.
How To Be Funny: Stand-Up Comic Takes Public Speakers to School by DIY Blogger NET
Humor doesn’t come naturally to all of us. Okay, more like not to most of us. Looking for some expert guidance on how to liven up your next presentation? Watch as standup comic Brendan Fitzgibbons gives Dino Dogan practical tips on how to be funny. This video is useful (though not short—about 26 minutes).