Category: funny commercials

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Social Media Spotlight: Funny Gymshark Tweets

  Every now and then we like to shine the spotlight on a brand that we think is killing it with comedy on social media. This time around, we’re looking at fitness clothing brand Gymshark. It turns out you don’t have to be fit OR funny — you can be both!? Guess I need a new excuse to skip leg day. The Gymshark social media team have recently hit their stride when it comes to branded comedy, and their engagement rates have gone through the roof! Read on for a selection of comedy highlights from their fighting fit Twitter feed, and learn how your business can make massive gains on social media by embracing your silly side. The Best Funny Tweets from Gymshark 1. Homeshark What do you do when the gym is your whole brand, but all the gyms in the country are forced to close? Just like Gymshark’s audience, who are having to get acquainted with home workouts, the brand’s social media team have adapted to this unprecedented situation. They’ve been posting topical comedy content throughout the 2020 coronavirus lockdown, primarily focusing on the theme of how much they miss going to gym — a topic that resonates with their followers. The highlight is this perfectly judged topical stunt, which saw Gymshark get their brand name in front of thousands of new potential customers — even if that brand name was ‘Homeshark’. Genius. we changed our name to homeshark, cause some of you needed reminding to stay home — Gymshark (@Gymshark) March 27, 2020 2. Menus This one’s not going to make most people laugh out loud (no offence Gymshark, please don’t beat us up!). However, it’s a straightforward topical observation that their audience can relate to, and 12.9k people enjoyed it enough to smash that like button. Topics that are tangentially related to your brand are fair game for jokes — we all know that training and diet are inherently linked — but more importantly, relatable lines like this reinforce the bond between the brand and their followers. We’re all in lockdown together, and we all miss eating out. Furthermore, we can all relate to the experience of sticking to our favourite foods — particularly if we’re the kind of person who’s heavily into fitness and watching what we eat. Notice how the style of writing creates a sense of relatability, too. Like many other brands with ideal customers in the 18-30 age range, Gymshark’s tone of voice is snappy, super-casual, and lacking punctuation. This style of writing is all about conveying an amusing sentiment quickly and unobtrusively, giving us the impression that Gymshark isn’t a brand trying to be funny — Gymshark is your mate who sends you memes (and occasionally sells you a tracksuit). i miss staring at the menu for ages and then ordering what i always get — Gymshark (@Gymshark) May 14, 2020 3. The Fake Poll This beautifully executed visual gag takes an overused gym joke from the locker and makes it fresh. The core idea is familiar — “people who don’t put their weights back are the worst” — and most Twitter users are familiar with Twitter Polls. By mocking up their own fake Twitter poll, Gymshark were able to control the ‘results’ to make their point (and we love the 1.2 million votes). This is a solid example of a brand demonstrating that they know the memes of a given social media platform well enough to subvert them for comic effect — something that always goes down well with the locals. are people who don't put their weights back the worst kind of people? Yes                                            100% No                                                  0% 1,237,386 votes • Final results. — Gymshark (@Gymshark) February 25, 2020 Keep up the great work, Gymshark! And remember — any time you need a spot, we’ve got a hive-mind of highly trained comedy writers here, ready to help you out.   Everyone else — be sure to follow @Gymshark so you don’t miss out on their funny tweets! Want more social media inspiration? Check out the Funniest Brands on Social Media, and find out how you can follow in their footsteps with our Ultimate Guide to Comedy in Social Media Marketing.

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Image of shocked customer from the 2020 McDonald's funny advert for coffee

Find Digital Marketing Inspiration in these Funny McDonald’s Adverts

One of the most effective ways to improve your own digital and social media marketing is to study brands that have mastered the art. McDonald’s is an iconic fast food brand, so they’d be excused for focusing on the fries and letting their reputation market itself. But in actual fact, McDonald’s has been responsible for some of our favourite funny ads of recent years. Let’s take a look at the very best examples, and pick up some tips for using comedy in digital marketing along the way… Funny McDonald’s Adverts 1. Ball Pit — McCafé advert   This 2020 advert follows a coffee-drinker’s doomed visit to a ridiculously hipster coffee shop, where customers pay for an ‘experience’ rather than a straightforward coffee. There’s plenty of visual gags to enjoy here — from the ball pit, to the barista’s deliciously awkward dance. It’s tied together by a strong core idea rooted in the classic “Should’ve gone to Specsavers…” model of marketing. 2. McCafé — 2017 advert In this predecessor to the advert above, we see a series of customers experience disappointment at the hands of hipster baristas. This example demonstrates how one strong comedy idea can generate more than enough jokes for multiple adverts. If the funny observation at the heart of your campaign remains relevant for years to come, there’s no need to completely reinvent the wheel each time you need a new advert! 3. Swimming — Saver Menu advert This short clip packs a punch thanks to a smart, well-timed visual gag. Note how the joke is revealed precisely halfway through the advert (ten seconds in). Filmmakers and screenwriters call this the midpoint — by making sure something funny, exciting or important happens halfway through your film (however short it may be) you give yourself a fighting chance of keeping the viewers’ interest. Now, this ad is only twenty seconds long, but the lesson can be applied to longer pieces. Lots of adverts start to ‘sag’ or feel boring around the halfway point, before gearing up for a big finish. Don’t make the same mistake — in a world oversaturated with digital content, you can’t afford to bore your audience for even a second — their attention can unsubscribe at any time, so work out what your ad’s midpoint is going to be, long before the cameras roll! 4. Free Range Freshly Cracked Eggs If consumers often make false assumptions about your product, rebutting them with comedy is one of the boldest and most effective moves you can make. This advert from 2016 used visual comedy to convey the message that the eggs in a sausage and egg McMuffin are, contrary to popular belief, real. We love the surreal opening image, and Sam’s dream sequence — which feel like they’re straight out of a heightened US sitcom — while the chicken interview calls to mind mockumentaries like This Country or People Just Do Nothing. Don’t be afraid to adopt elements of the comedic style from TV shows or films that you find funny. As soon as you twist it to paint your brand as the hero, you’ll find you’ve got something unique and original. 5. The No-Subtext Advert with Joe Marler Most advertising, funny or not, relies on the audience’s innate ability to see the link between two ideas. For this advert with rugby player Joe Marler, McDonald’s decided to do away with subtext and make a joke of him spelling it out. The success or failure of this ad rode on Joe’s comedy performance ability. Don’t try this with any old talent! While he’s no Duncan from Blue, Joe doesn’t have years of performance experience with a boy band to draw on (as far as we’re aware). Bonus tip: How much do you think this advert cost to shoot? We can’t say for sure, but aside from Joe’s fee (and of course some treats for his fluffy co-star), we’d guess it was in the region of £0. When you’ve got a strong idea and a tight, funny script, you don’t need shell out on flashy production to make an impact. 6. Susie Dent vs Lethal Bizzle Sticking with the theme of celebrity endorsements, this ad sees two well-known wordsmiths from the worlds of grime and Dictionary Corner battle it out in a ‘slang-ing match’. Some will find this funnier than others (welcome to the highly subjective world of comedy!) and while it doesn’t get any belly laughs from us, we wanted to give McDonald’s a massive pat on the back for experimenting with form and incorporating live, improvised comedy performance in advertising! 7. Our eggs are real free range eggs! McDonald’s is very, very keen to remind the world that they use free range eggs. Here’s another ad on that theme. As long as they keep using comedy to do it, we’re not complaining! If you’ve spent any time at all hanging out with us here at White Label Comedy, you’re highly likely to have read the phrase ‘layered comedy’ more than a few times. This ad has more tasty layers than a Big Mac — with jokes in the voiceover, physical comedy, text jokes, and a delightfully expressive performance from the lead to boot. And what’s the take home message, for those who missed it? THE EGGS ARE REAL, DAMN IT! 8. ‘We could…’ McCafé advert This is another of our favourite adverts for the McCafé’s no-nonsense approach to coffee. Any ad that makes jokes at the expense of competitors (whether general or specific) carries the risk of alienating some viewers. However, McDonald’s can safely poke fun at hipster coffee shops without alienating their ideal customer — and there’s a lot of fun to be poked, clearly — because they know the coffee snob demographic will never be interested in their product anyway. We hope you’ve enjoyed this round up of the top funny McDonald’s adverts. If you’ve been inspired to use comedy in your own. marketing, check out our Ultimate Guide to Comedy in Social Media Marketing

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The best Ads of 2020 (so far)

The funniest commercials of 2020 (so far)

If 2020 were a person, they would be… well… an arsehole. But doom and gloom aside, there have been some positives within the creative world. Tik Tok has given everyone a chance to become internet famous for a while. Creative courses, workshops, and many other things have removed charges, so everyone has access. It’s a wonderful thing. Meanwhile, advertising companies have also been on top form. So, what better way to showcase the best ads of 2020, whilst simultaneously breaking the monotony of isolation, than with a top 10. That’s right, I have compiled my top 10 funny adverts of 2020, so far. Pop the kettle on, put your feet up, and enjoy the ride! Here are the funniest commercials of 2020, as chosen by: me! Have you ever wondered why every other Top 10 out there looks the same? It’s because every other Top Ten of TV Ads is really just a list of 10 super bowl spots. And it’s often just the first 2020 super bowl spots they could find. You’ll find one big game Ad here, maybe two – but you won’t find a list full of them. Sorry Bud Light. Apologies Doritos Cool Ranch. Stand down, Rocket Mortgage. And Jason Momoa, Lil Nas, Sam Elliott, Ellen Degeneres AND MC Hammer – none of you can touch this. So grab yourself a Michelob Ultra, and step back – because this is MY list. Oh yeah, if you don’t agree with my list, don’t worry I won’t be cross, but I think you’ll find that you’re wrong. However, please do comment on what your top 10 would be. Let’s imagine this were a parade of hit songs, and start at number 10. I would start with number 1, but that would ruin the surprise. And boy, is it a surprise?! Well, it depends if you’re easily surprised, I suppose. OK Go! 10 – McDonald’s UK – Ball Pit With this ad, McDonald’s have chosen to blast their competition. Now, ripping into your counterparts can be a risky business, but handled well, it can make your brand stand out above the rest. Especially when humour is involved. McDonald’s know their customers and have targeted them directly. They have contrasted the ridiculousness of modern-day coffee shops, with the simplicity of the McCafé. With a barrage of visual gags, this ad deserves more than one watch, and by the end, you are left with no doubt as to what the brand message is. Great ad. 9 – Coca Cola – Focus Group Watch the ad HERE I love how clever this ad is. At first glance you are just watching some creatures in a meeting. Then it hits you, bam! The drink is a mix of two things – Cherry Coke and Vanilla Coke – and the creatures are all mythical beasts each comprising of a mixture of animals. Once this hurdle is hurdled, you can appreciate the cleverness of the ad. Hybrid beasts confused that two things can be mixed to form one thing, great! Now, it may not be side splitting, pants wetting funny, but it is funny and very clever. Maybe there could be more room for jokes in future ads? Let’s hope so. 8 – Snickers – #SnickersFixtheWorld When Snickers released their ‘You’re not you’ ads, they worked a treat. Mr Bean as a Ninja, a moody footballer, all good fun. What they have done with this ad is supersized that idea. They have taken everything that is ‘wrong’ with the world, put it in a song, dug a massive hole, and are now going to fix the world with a massive Snickers. Fantastic, and if only it were true! I know we definitely need some fixing right now. It’s light-hearted, relatable, and with the addition of an extra gag at the end, well worthy of the number 8 spot – and all the love it got at Super Bowl LIV. Side note: who won? Was it the Kansas City Chiefs, or the San Francisco 49ers? Spoiler Alert: it doesn’t matter! Because it’s not about that. It’s about continuing our Top 10. 7 – BCITO – Stakeout Everything about this ad is great. The character, the acceleration of jokes, the mix of visual and verbal gags. This dads disdain for his son’s apprenticeship is crystal clear. He is appalled at the thought that his son won’t have a degree, and instead he’ll just be ‘making stuff out of wood.’ That classic New Zealand dry sense of humour really comes out here. Questions like ‘don’t you like money?’ paired with the dad’s kooky actions, provide a cringe packed minute of well made comedy advertising. 6 – Volkswagen USA – The Accountant Part 1 Paul Giamatti is world class, so straight away you’re on to a winner. There was room for more ‘escalation’ in the gags, maybe bigger and wackier purchases, but from the jet ski joke at the start, to the ‘inanimate’ gag, this ad does tick all of the boxes. Add in Succession’s Kieran Culkin as the client, and the casino end gag, and you have yourself a classy, clever ad. Beautifully filmed, with the feel of a mini movie rather than a car commercial, this ad sits nicely at number six. Side note: did you know Ellen Degeneres drives a Volkswagen? 5 – Three UK – Hey UK, The Real 5G Future is Here Considering the length on this ad, you could have been left bored to tears. This isn’t the case at all. Absolutely jam packed with gags, it goes from zero to 100 in 20 seconds. After showing that the UK is pretty much in a state of misery, Three are quick to show us all how awesome everything will be on their 5G network. From Greggs to Lewis Capaldi, they don’t hold back on showing everything that is British in one exciting futuristic set up. This ad definitely deserves to be re-watched. With a commercial featuring so many jokes, small gags and references,

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Let’s Compare The Meerkats. Our Top 20 Ads.

Back in 2009, a team of creatives from Ad Agency VCCP strolled into the offices of price comparison website Compare The Market and pitched them what was – quite frankly – a ridiculous idea. “Ok – so you’re ‘CompareTheMarket.com’, but how about we don’t make Ads for you, we make them for a different website. CompareTheMeerkat.com”. Thankfully, these Ad Men weren’t laughed out of the room. Instead, the brand decided to give it a go – and the Compare The Meerkat commercials were born. It was a clever play that didn’t just entertain, engage and sell – it also gave the brand a new set of much cheaper search terms they could be discovered for than the overpriced, over-saturated “insurance price comparison sites” terms they’d previously been fighting for. That’s genius in itself. More than a decade later, Russian oligarch Aleksandr Orlov and his huge and varied family of meerkat characters – brought to life by film production company Passion Pictures, and Director Darren Walsh –  are still going strong. They’ve shared the screen with Nicole Kidman and Arnold Schwarzenegger, become cuddly meerkat toys loved by kids the world over, Aleks has written his own bestselling book (“A simples life: The Life and Times of Aleksander Orlov”), and that catchphrase (“Simples”) has even made it into the Oxford English Dictionary. There have been over 110 adverts to date – so choosing our favourite 20 Compare The Market Funny Adverts has been no mean feat. But after much deliberation, we can officially say that these are:   The 20 best Compare The Meerkat adverts ever   The Early Compare The Market Adverts – Keeping it Simple The very earliest Compare The Market ads were – to coin a phrase – pretty simples. Light on gags, but big on story. Aleksandr sitting in his chair, storybook in hand, telling the story of the life and times of Aleksandr Orlov, and his his ancestors and how they travelled across the sea to land in Meerkovia and set up shop comparing meerkats for a living. 1 – The Orlov Family Backstory (Part One) In part one of the story, Aleks tells us of his Ancestors, who lived in the Kalahari, living the simples life, until a famine forced them to leave. They sail across the ocean, and arrive on the shores of a new land, for a new life – in Russia. And they didn’t go through all that to give you a good deal on your car insurance…   2 – The Orlov Family Backstory (Part Two) In this instalment of the Russian meerkat story, Aleksandr’s great grandfather Vital was a captain in the meerkat home guard – when a mongoose snuck up and attacked his unit. After a bloody battle that raged all night long, the mongoose army was eventually driven away – and Vitali was awarded for his bravery. And he didn’t go through all that just so you could get cheap insurance.   3 – The Orlov Family Backstory (Part Three) In the final part of the Orlov family story, Aleksandr tells how Papa Anton used to roam the streets of Moscow with “Compare The Meerkat Dot Cart”. He struggled for years, and even had to take a second job comparing muskrats. Eventually though, business took off – and he was able to open “Compare The Meerkat Dot Shop”, making himself the most famous name in the meerkat comparison business.   The Town of Meerkovo gets involved Aleks’ big issue with Compare The Market is that the more popular it gets, the more traffic finds its way accidentally to his website Compare The Meerkat – and that causes serious problems for the people of Meerkovo. The second generation of commercials saw the good people of Meerkovo lend their support to his message.   4 – our town is overrun An observational documentary style piece on how the influx of unwanted visitors is affected the locals.   “Free” Plush Toys so we ignore that we’re paying a Premium With “simples” in the dictionary, and Aleks and the meerkats joining the pantheon of much-loved comedy characters, it wasn’t ever going to be long before cuddly toys arrived. They could’ve sold these to their “fans” – but Compare The Marketing had an even better trick up their sleeve: they’d give them away from free. That is, so long as you don’t realise just how much more you might be paying for your insurance.   5 – Sarah – Here’s Your Bogdan Toy Aleksandr and Sergei arrive at Sarah’s door, and invite themselves in, and explain that the people of Meerkova have sent her a Bogdan toy to thank her for not getting the two websites confused. 2012 was a great year for meerkat fans.   Sergei gets overworked The third generation of Ads, in 2013, centre around the popularity of their free plush toy offer – and the fact that it leaves Sergei completely overworked.   6 – The New Laptop Sergei struggles to keep up with demand, and Aleks can tell. It’s time to make a big change. Sergei thinks that means he’s about to get fired – actually, Aleks has bought him a shiny new laptop, so he can process free plush toy requests 24 hours a day. 7 – Sergei joins the circus An exhausted, overworked Sergei has quit and joined the circus – a place where he can finally get the respect and dignity he deserves. Even if that means he has to be fired out of a cannon, and hit in the face with custard pies.   Compare The Market Fights Back again Compare The Meerkat’s funny adverts 2013’s TV spots were all about the real website (Compare The Market) and their campaign to “stop” Sergei’s website (Compare The Meerkat) form operating.     8 – The stone says cease and desist On a dark and stormy night, a paratrooper lands in the garden and throws a rock through the window of Aleks’ mansion. It contains a cease and

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50 Funniest TV Ads

The 50 Funniest Commercials and Adverts of ALL TIME

Ok – this is it. The big one. This is our definitive list of the 50 funniest commercials of all time. That’s literally the funniest adverts ever. The best Ads of all time – as voted for by YOU. (Or at least, those of you that voted). If you’re looking to find commercials to inspire your own work, and you need examples of humour in advertising at its best, you’re exactly where you need to be. Without further ado – let’s get into it. The Best Funny Ads of All Time Funny Adverts 50 to 41   50 – Hyundai – First Date (2016) The overprotective father trope is often overplayed – but it’s pitched to perfection here in this tongue in cheek Hyundai Ad featuring Kevin Hart as a concerned father who lets his daughter and her date borrow his new car, but only because its impressive security features means he’ll know exactly where they are, and it’s safety features will keep them, and the car, from harm.   49 – Progressive Insurance – Off the Mara-ket (2020) Two girls in a bar – one’s doing all she can to put off the guys approaching. She tries being weird, she tries being kooky, and she tries being boring – by reciting the benefits of taking out a policy with Progressive Insurance. A neat way to slip in some USPs, acknowledge that they’re dull, yet have someone on screen insist they’re not.   48 – The League – Meet the Parents (2020) Every parent’s worst nightmare made literal – as a much loved daughter arrives home to introduce her (actual) trash-can of a boyfriend to the family. And it escalates nicely from there.   47 – John Smith’s Bitter – Peter Kay (2002-05) Not a single ad, but a series – grouped together because they all make the same gag. Comedian Peter Kay is John Smiths Bitter personified – and in each of these funny ads, he takes a win of some kind for the “ordinary man on the street”. Funny, relatable, and repeatable – the best kind of humour in advertising. The first funny ad from the UK in our rundown – but definitely not the last.     46 – Geico – Hump Day (2013) How happy are customers who switch to Geico? Happier than a camel on Hump Day – apparently. We’re trying to be objective when compiling this list – and so many of you LOVE the Geico “Hump Day” commercials that we couldn’t not put at least one of them into our Top 50. A funny ad that spawned a seemingly never-ending series – this one’s where it began. Is this one of the funniest brand commercials of all time? No. But you guys voted it in – and we’re slaves to the system.   45 – Waze – Air Dancer (2020) Navigation app Waze remind us that their platform supports location-based advertising — and underlines the idea that it’s the next big thing, making other forms of advertising obsolete — through the tragicomic sob story of one of those inflatable tube man thingies. They also save the most obvious joke until just after you’re sure they’re not going to be making it at all – which doubles the effects of the humor in this case.   44 – Bridgestone Golf Tour B SplitScreen (2019) Tiger Woods and a Tiger Woods impressionist team up to help sell golf balls.   43 – Drug Free Kids Canada – Dark Gummies (2020) DFKC want parents to know that cannabis gummies and other edibles aren’t as cute as they seem, so they had a talented cast of gummy bears enact the kind of sadistic mischief your kids might when they’re high on edibles. Proof that humor in advertising can be weird AF and still work. We’re massively into it.   42 – GNC – Get Your Goal On (2019) This hardware store are there for their customers – whenever they need them. Even when that means going to scary extremes.   41 – McDonalds – Saver Menu – Rubber Glove (2019) When times are hard, every parent looks to save money where they can. You could send your kid to a swimming gala with a rubber glove for a swim hat. Or, you could just eat from the McDonalds Saver Menu. A cute relatable Ad that talks about finance in a warm, inclusive way – this is one of those funny commercials the UK could only pull off. No offence, Americans, but I just don’t think you’d get this one. Funniest Commercials 40 to 31   40 – Terry’s Chocolate Orange – Safe – Indiana Jones Spoof (1984) The lengths some people will go to, to keep their Terry’s Chocolate Orange safe. A spot-on spoof of one of the biggest films of the era – and it’s one that’s aged well, even now.   39 – Virgin Media – Unlimiting (2019) Virgin Media prove that life with them as your ISP is completely unlimited. You can do ANYTHING. Well – almost anything. You still can’t drive a bus off a cliff without plummeting to your doom – but never mind. You can’t win ’em all.   38 – Trebor Softmints – Mr Soft (1987) Mr Soft lives in a soft world. The song is about him being soft. The product he’s advertising is called Softmints. Then he hits a not so soft lamppost. This made it into our rundown of the funniest TV adverts of the 80s – which you should definitely read.   37 – Samsung – QLED + 6 Underground + Ryan Reynolds (2019) An Ad within an Ad within an Ad. Meta. A great funny product commercial for – well – for 3 different products at once. Humor in marketing (in marketing about marketing) at its best.   36 – McDonald’s UK – Ball Pit (2020) The fast food giant uses comedy to make it clear just how much more you’re paying for than

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Funny Marmite Adverts – Marmite Mind Control

The Marmite Mind Control Adverts Do you love it, or hate it? Nectar of the gods, or sticky salty hell-spread? The iconic Marmite jar has been dividing families for over 100 years. In 2019, their marketing manager said, “Recent research cemented Marmite’s reputation as the most loved and hated product of our generation” and they reckoned they had finally cracked how to convert even the most ardent haters’ taste perceptions. The Unilever brand planned to transform “lucky participants” from Marmite haters into Marmite lovers using the power of hypnosis films. members of the public applied by answering a series of questions online, before travelling to London to watch the film under controlled conditions.   In the resulting filmed experiment, Marmite show that hypnosis can make a hater become a lover — succeeding in seven out of ten cases. Very impressive, but we wish this video had made us laugh — perhaps through a presenter working off a funny script, or even a gag-packed voiceover. Instead, the brand is relying purely on our curiosity to inspire us to watch this for the full three minutes. To be honest, we’re never going to care enough, unless we’re not being entertained at the same time. Most social media users will feel the same — and you can see that this video has received a paltry amount of attention on YouTube. It’s a real shame that such a funny and clever campaign wasn’t brought to a fitting conclusion with a hilarious video to show off the results. However, we remain impressed by the campaign overall. It was a visionary approach — one that falls somewhere between genuine social experiment and funny, attention-seeking marketing strategy. And best of all, Marmite didn’t stop there — giving us a little nugget of branded comedy gold at the start of 2020… Marmite and AA Hypnosis Advert With this ad released in 2020, Marmite took the funny idea at the core of this campaign even further — by hijacking another brand’s ad. The ad starts off innocuously enough — appearing to be an AA breakdown service ad — before glitching to reveal a ‘subliminal message’ from Marmite. The first, at eight seconds in, orders us to ‘Love it!’ before the AA advert resumes, only to be interrupted three more times. It’s definitely weird. But does it work? At the heart of anything funny is the element of surprise. When two seemingly unrelated ideas come together in a way that somehow, against all odds, suddenly makes perfect sense — congratulations, you’ve got yourself some comedy (more on that HERE)! Marmite have taken that basic comedy principle by the horns, serving us a boss of a surprise in what may just be a marketing masterstroke. Placing your advert within an advert for a brand in a completely different sector? That’s some Inception shit right there. The surprise impact of the ridiculous ‘hypnosis’ inserts is heightened by sandwiching them between details of a relatively mundane service — no offence, AA! — and the visual style has a satisfying, Black Mirror feel. We guess we’re saying this ad is basically prestige television and should win an Emmy. Is it hilarious? No. But it’s a delightfully silly idea, and it make us want to drive to the supermarket in our AA-covered car and pick up some salty yeasty spread. So we’d call that a win. We reckon this specific ad is the highlight of the Marmite Mind Control campaign, but these others are worth a watch too: A Taster of the Marmite Hypnosis Film The Short-but-Sweet (Salty) Marmite Advert The Marmite Peanut Butter Advert  

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The Funniest Brands on Social Media

It’s time to celebrate the heroes of social media marketing – the social media managers with a sense of humour (or “sense of humor”, if you’re stateside) so well honed that they’re able to dominate on Twitter and Facebook.

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Awesome on Social Media: MoonPie

You know the drill by now, don’t you? Every now and then, we take a break from reviewing the latest Funny Ads to introduce you to a brand we think is AWESOME ON SOCIAL MEDIA! Today, it’s the turn of MoonPie. Their Twitter feed reads like it’s written by a thirteen year-old who’s simultaneously bored and blessed with an overactive imagination. Weirdness and self-deprecating humour abound — punctuation, not so much. Maybe they pay them in MoonPies, and it’s the sugar talking? Either way, we’re massively into it, and so are MoonPie’s 301k followers. Here are three of our recent favourite social media smash hits from their feed: See what we mean? True, it’s a distinctive tone and not everyone will enjoy this type of humour. But then, not everyone enjoys marshmallows and happiness. We have already called dibs on being the first brand on the moon if you are a brand and want to be on the moon you have to let us go first because we called dibs — MoonPie (@MoonPie) February 6, 2020 2. This one’s part of a long-running gag about trying get back together with ‘Linda’. Need something to tweet about? Make up a lost love and post wonderfully pathetic content about how you want them back, obviously. What’s in the MoonPie box _______/  /  / /|| ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄| || 🌙 🥧 | ||_____________| / Linda surprise it is me I have changed   ____ /(´・_・`) /\| ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄|\| 🌙 🥧 | ||      |/  ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ — MoonPie (@MoonPie) February 17, 2020   3. Responding to brand mentions is an art form in itself (and a crucial part of social media customer service) and we love what MoonPie did here. The original tweet from Garden & Gun scored *checks notes* shit-all likes, in comparison. Please stop posting this or I am going to make my own magazine https://t.co/ZwCyHEXmnY — MoonPie (@MoonPie) January 28, 2020   4. Yeah, we know we said three, but here’s a BONUS example of what we’re going to call  ‘alternative social media customer service’ from MoonPie. Note how the original tweeter didn’t tag or even mention the brand — which means the social media team/sugar-crazed teenager behind the account went out of their way to hunt down someone, anyone, with an opinion about the actual moon to become the butt of this joke. We love the dedication. Shut up https://t.co/i3997o7nxq — MoonPie (@MoonPie) January 15, 2020   It’s safe to say we’re buying what these guys are selling (it’s marshmallow sandwiches and jokes, what’s not to love?). But where do we think MoonPie’s social team could do a little better? To be honest, their Facebook page is looking neglected. In 2020, despite so many of us starting to worry about who’s selling our data and to whom, 71% of American adults still use Facebook — in fact, it’s the world’s third most-visited website. It’s definitely still possible to make a huge impact there, and we’d love to see MoonPie get to work and replicate some of the success they’ve had on Twitter. Of course, MoonPie — if you’re reading this — you could always send us some sweet, sweet ‘pies to feed the hive-mind while they have a crack at turning your Facebook page around. In the meantime, keep killing it on Twitter! And everyone else, go follow @MoonPie for your daily dose of sugar rush oddness. They’re one of the funniest brands on social media, without a doubt!

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Awesome on Social Media: SparkNotes

Top up your coffee and take a pew. It’s time to take a look at a brand that’s indisputably… AWESOME ON SOCIAL MEDIA! UK readers may not be familiar, but SparkNotes is a big deal in the United States of Academia. They produce award winning study guides for Shakespeare texts and other classic works of literature — if you were the kind of high school student who thought ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ was a ‘How To…’ manual, then you would’ve done well to pick up a SparkNotes guide or two. Sounds interesting, but hardly hilarious, right? Their Twitter header looks exactly how you’d expect — i.e. even looking at it feels like homework— except they have 260.9k followers. How in Hades did that happen? Well, it’s because pretty much every tweet they put out goes viral. The SparkNotes social media team has cultivated a distinctive comedy style on Twitter — clashing contemporary language and popular Twitter joke formats with knowing references to classic literature. Their posts are highly shareable because they’re funny, but also because there’s a degree of intellectual pride around being ‘in on it’. Here are our recent favourites from the Sparknotes Twitter account: 1.This, on Valentine’s Day. Get the reference, old sport? If not, just know that 36.8K people did. *Cue predictable and over-used GIF of DiCaprio raising glass…* It’s The Great Gatsby, okay! Keep up. Date ideas for Valentine's Day: – Get dinner– See a movie– Resurface after 5 years with a large fortune and a new identity to win the heart of the girl you love– Throw a party that symbolizes the moral corruption and superficiality of the rich– Die in a pool — SparkNotes (@SparkNotes) February 14, 2020 2. As we know, visual content is king on all social media platforms, even Twitter. Here, SparkNotes went the extra mile by editing an image to combine their area of expertise with a pop culture reference. The choice of meme is key — The Simpsons is a cultural touchstone that instantly connotes comedy. pic.twitter.com/7NvdYcd1YJ — SparkNotes (@SparkNotes) January 23, 2020 3. This one betrays just how much time the SparkNotes social media team spends on Twitter. They’ve perfectly hijacked the ‘folder/sub-folder’ text and emoji based joke format that was doing the rounds, and brought it back to their specialist subject. Think it’s weird and niche? 41.3k people disagree. Maybe they should produce a study guide for social media managers to swot up on Twitter memes… 📁Shakespeare plays └📁Characters └📁Communication skills └⚠️This folder is empty — SparkNotes (@SparkNotes) January 16, 2020 4. Proof that branded comedy can be niche AND topical! This one was posted during the Covid-19 lockdown (when we all got extremely familiar with Zoom video-conferencing and ran out of believable excuses to end phone calls because, frankly, we had nowhere else to be). In times of hardship such as these, SparkNotes recommends turning to the bard. Fun ways to end a Zoom call: – Farewell, my lords.– Away! thou'rt a knave.– Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow.– [EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR.] — SparkNotes (@SparkNotes) April 20, 2020 5.  This post co-opts a popular Twitter joke format (post a selection of images that could be considered spoilers for a TV show or movie, but actually only make sense if you’ve already seen it). It’s not laugh out loud funny, but it’s super-satisfying if you’re ‘in on it’. Even better — it’s immediately eye catching if you’re a fan of Pokemon, The Good Place, The Wizard of Oz or Crash Bandicoot. Hamlet spoilers but there's no context pic.twitter.com/KoJeq7TpjB — SparkNotes (@SparkNotes) March 30, 2020 6. Here, the SparkNotes social media team did what they do best — they juxtaposed a common element of modern life with the equivalent from classical literature. There’s a lot of comedy to be found in contrasts and comparisons (not to mention list-based jokes, a mainstay of American Late Night TV). We wonder whether there was room for some wordplay around ‘Lyft’ and ‘Styx’, but honestly, we love this joke just the way it is. CALLING A LYFT– expensive HITCHING A RIDE WITH CHARON, FERRYMAN OF THE DEAD– only costs one coin– sure there's just one destination but still, what a deal — SparkNotes (@SparkNotes) April 14, 2020 7. Simple yet effective. Another pop culture meme deployed to great effect here, —and we’ll give SparkNotes extra points for referencing two literary greats in the same joke. when edgar allan poe refuses to name the narrator pic.twitter.com/EUCfrV9aFy — SparkNotes (@SparkNotes) April 20, 2020 8. Sticking with the Lord of the Rings theme, this artful Ariana Grande Retweet shows the SparkNotes social media team aren’t afraid to post reactive content. If you can find an on-brand way to interact with celebrities that your ideal customer likes, you send a very clear signal to those customers — a message along the lines of, “Hey, we’re funny AND cool!” This message is especially important if you sell study guides… (Incidentally, using that line without changing the wording will have the opposite effect). Practising funny reactive posting can also help brands master the delicate art of using comedy in social media customer service. Gandalf falling from the Bridge of Khazad-dûm https://t.co/NG7ek0B77b — SparkNotes (@SparkNotes) March 6, 2020 9. An edited Parks and Recreation meme? Take my money, SparkNotes. Over 27 thousand Twitter users enjoyed this as much as we did, so what’s the lesson? If you can put your own spin on existing funny content with a massive fan base, you’re on to a winner (also calzone > pizza). 19th-century authors pic.twitter.com/Oj1gv1AZVx — SparkNotes (@SparkNotes) April 13, 2020 10. ‘Comparison lists’ is the Twitter joke format that just keeps on giving. See how this take on Job Hunting is a variation on the Lyft vs Ferryman of the Dead format? The thing is, as long as you keep changing the specifics, it never gets old! Bonus points to SparkNotes for nailing the comedy ‘rule of three’ here

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Awesome on Social Media: Innocent Drinks’ Funny Tweets

Look, we know you come here for our Funny Ads analysis — but once in a while, we like to take a quick look at a brand we think is AWESOME ON SOCIAL MEDIA! Innocent Drinks. Makers of juices, smoothies, dairy free alternative milks, coconut water, drinks with bubbles in and something called a ‘refresher’. These are all tasty, good for you and never made from concentrate etcetera etcetera. In fact, I probably could’ve bought a Tesla with the amount of money I’ve spent on Innocent’s myriad variations on mushed up banana and strawberries over the years. But that’s not why we love ’em. No, we’re massive fans because Innocent has mastered the use of comedy in their social media marketing. They’re funny IRL too — never shying away from a splash of silliness in the copy on their bottles — but that’s a story for another day. Right now, it’s time to look at our favourite funny social media content from the Innocent Drinks Social Media team – loved by us, and Twitter users across the globe. The Best Innocent Drinks Funny Tweets and Adverts 1. The Grey List We’re big fans of the ‘funny list’ genre of joke (and not just because our comedy hive mind can write them so well). It’s beloved by late night TV comedy writers and some of the funniest brands on social media. Note how this particular joke has nothing at all to do with Innocent’s products — but it’s written in their brand tone of voice. Comedy content keeps Innocent’s brand name and logo on users’ feeds, day in, day out, without boring them — this means that when they do post product-related content, it reaches a large audience that’s willing to engage. TODAY IS GREYER THAN: 1. Koalas2. Wolves3. George Clooney's hair4. An elephant wearing joggers5. Unbuffed silverware6. Black and white movies7. A dolphin convention8. Gandalf riding a seal9. A smudged zebra10. A rainbow through the eyes of a dog — innocent drinks (@innocent) February 24, 2020 2. Pancake Day Product Placement While the above tweet above was almost ‘topical’ in that it referred to the weather, this one was crafted to go out on a specific day. It’s a good idea to jump on trending hashtags, but what if none of your products are particularly relevant? Make that the joke! The balance between entertainment and sales would make the perfect subject for a venn diagram (if we could be bothered to draw one), with posts like this sitting right in that central sweet spot. Much like pancakes go down better smothered in lemon and sugar, product placement disguised as funny content slips past our defences that much easier. PANCAKE DAY ADVICE Instead of pouring lemon juice on your pancakes, why not use our sparkling lemon and lime bubbles? It won't go with them at all but we don’t sell lemon juice so this is the best we can do under the circumstances.#PancakeDay pic.twitter.com/yfnmG40Dgc — innocent drinks (@innocent) February 25, 2020 3. The ‘Perfect’ Advert When you make a mistake, own it. Even better, own it by posting self-deprecating jokes referring back to it for years to come. In October 2019, Innocent posted about a joke product — a dairy-free drink, made from conker milk. The thing is, conkers are NOT SAFE TO EAT (and also really difficult to milk), and there was something of an outcry. They apologised (in a light-hearted way that got massive engagement, naturally) and they’ve occasionally referred back to their faux-pas with genius gags like this… This is it. A new year. A new decade. A new chance for success. No more messing around. No more nonsense. No more mistakes. This year our ads are going to be absolutely perfect. pic.twitter.com/UG7OlsgNxX — innocent drinks (@innocent) January 6, 2020 4. The Blue Drink Advert with Duncan from Blue Much of this article is about social posts, but Innocent make great video content too. Yes, their Bolt from the Blue fruit juice is boosted with vitamins and is one of the tastiest things humans have made from apple, lime, guava and coconut water. But the main selling point is that it’s a BLUE DRINK. This gag-packed advert featuring Duncan from the boy band Blue took that premise and ran with it, combining a semi-topical top line (gently mocking the band’s bankruptcy) with a strong script and heaps of visual gags. We loved it so much that we dedicated a whole entry to it in the Funny Ads Archive. 5. Innocent Actually This spoof of the Christmas classic romcom ‘Love Actually’ is the spiritual sequel to the original Duncan from Blue advert. It’s a strong parody that boasts visual comedy, a funny branded Christmas carol and yet more light-hearted jabs at Duncan’s financial status. Note how this post received more engagement than many of Innocent’s other tweets. When it comes to social media marketing, video content is king. 6. The John Lewis Jab Sticking with the Christmas theme, Innocent showed they’re not afraid to take on the big brands with this light jab at the John Lewis Christmas advert. Sassing other brands is a great way to capitalise on trending hashtags while showing off your comedy chops. Of course, you don’t want to risk starting a war (or a lawsuit) so it’s best to keep it playful and inoffensive. By putting their own spin on a joke that many other social media users were already making, Innocent got the tone just right. 7. A Pancake Day Prank Not content with posting one funny tweet to mark Pancake Day 2020, Innocent came up with this ridiculous video stunt at the start of February. The ‘Pancake Advent Calendar’ is a strong idea that would’ve been relatively funny as the punchline to a text-only joke, but hats off to them for going the extra mile. We hope whoever made the calendar was rewarded with a pancake (not that one though – it looks like it’s been through the wringer). 8. Veganuary

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