notes from the writers’ room
The blog
Ideas on comedy, attention and marketing that doesn’t feel like marketing - 372 posts and counting.
If Your Business Was a Band, What Would Your Customers Want to Hear?
If your business was a band, what would your ideal customer want to hear? The band game is a simple metaphor trick that makes a dull value proposition concrete and funny.
24 August 2026 · 3 min read
What's on Your Customer's Fridge Door?
The fridge door is where real life's lists, reminders and guilt-trips actually live. Stage your customer's problem where they physically meet it and it gets relatable and funny.
10 August 2026 · 2 min read
How to Make Your Business Feel Like an Emergency Service
Dramatise your customer's moment of need to the max, blue lights and all, and your product stops being a nice-to-have. Here is how the emergency-service angle works.
13 July 2026 · 3 min read
Why Great Comedy Ads Are So Hard to Hire For
Great comedy ads need three rare skills at once: direct response, genuine comedy and scroll-stopping craft. Almost nobody has all three. Here is why that gap is so hard to close.
9 April 2026 · 3 min read
The Difference Between Testing Ads and Rearranging Deckchairs
Most Ad Accounts are not starved of ads. They are starved of genuinely different ones. Here is why tweaking the same creative is not testing, it is just rearranging deckchairs.
6 April 2026 · 3 min read
The Mini VSL That Can Nearly Double Your Sales
Adding the right video to your sales page can lift conversions by up to 86%. Not a 40-minute monster, a Mini VSL. Here is what it is and why yours is probably still video-free.
18 March 2026 · 2 min read
Do This Before You Run a Single Ad
Most people who get burnt by ads start in the wrong place: running them. Sort your funnel economics first and profitable ads become almost inevitable. Here is how.
11 February 2026 · 2 min read
I Stole My Best Marketing Ideas From the Advertising Greats
Funny marketing is not a new gimmick. Ogilvy, Sugarman and Collier all built empires on the idea that entertaining sells. Here is what they knew, and how to actually use it.
30 November 2025 · 3 min read
Build It With Your Audience, Not Just For Them
The safest way to build something people want is to stop guessing. Ask your audience their biggest problem, let them shape and vote on the fix, then build that.
13 November 2025 · 2 min read
The Smoothie Company That Talks to Its Bottles
I picked an Innocent smoothie over a dozen others because it was wearing a tiny knitted hat. The drink was identical. The personality was not. Here is the lesson.
5 November 2025 · 3 min read
The 3-Hour Social Media Post (and Why I'll Never Do It Again)
I once spent three hours writing one pension-planning post. It got 14 likes. A rival's one-sentence joke got 800 comments the same week. Here is what that taught me.
22 October 2025 · 3 min read
Why the Algorithm Hates Your Content (and What to Do About It)
My 4-year-old nephew judges food by whether it is dinosaur-shaped. Somehow he also runs the social media algorithms. Here is what he taught me about getting seen.
8 October 2025 · 3 min read
Why Netflix Killed Blockbuster (and What It Means for Your Marketing)
Blockbuster had every film ever made, perfectly organised. Netflix had a fraction of the selection and made you wait days for a DVD. People chose Netflix anyway. Here is the reason, and what it means for your content.
18 September 2025 · 3 min read
Remember When Getting Lost Was Just Part of Driving?
A crumpled paper map, my dad's unshakeable confidence, and three hours parked on a country road. Getting lost used to be part of driving. Here is why comedy marketing feels exactly the same right now.
21 August 2025 · 3 min read
The Accountant Who Went Viral
A guy in a polo shirt explaining why you should not use TurboTax got 2.3 million views. He did not try to make accounting funny. He did something far smarter, and it works for even the most boring business.
31 July 2025 · 3 min read
The IKEA Test (and Why Most People Fail It)
You know that moment when you open an IKEA box and find your beautiful bookshelf in 47 pieces? That is exactly how most business owners feel about using comedy in their marketing.
18 July 2025 · 2 min read
Why People Ignore Your Social Media (The Museum Test)
The average visitor to the Met spends just 17 seconds looking at each masterpiece. Your social media posts get even less. Here is what gives certain posts the power to stop the scroll.
4 July 2025 · 2 min read
Everyone Can Smell AI Copy Now (Your Customers Included)
Everyone can now spot AI-written copy, your customers included. They will not tell you like Reddit does. They just scroll past while Meta keeps billing you. Here is the real fix.
18 August 2026 · 4 min read
The Comedy Angle Hiding in Your Industry's Myths
Every industry is stuffed with myths your customers have been sold. Playfully debunking them is one of the most reliable comedy angles going, and a near-endless content well.
3 August 2026 · 4 min read
Show Your Customer's Problem Where It Really Hurts
A business pain point stated flat does not move anyone. Show it invading a summer holiday or a family weekend, played for a wry laugh, and the prospect feels understood.
6 July 2026 · 3 min read
The Question Isn't Whether Comedy Ads Work. It's How.
You already know funny ads that earn attention beat ads that interrupt it. The hard part is getting them made, and made well. Here are your two honest options.
7 April 2026 · 2 min read
Why the Message Matters More Than the Joke
Coming from the people who never stop banging the comedy drum, this may surprise you: the message matters more than the joke. Here is why, and where the comedy actually earns its keep.
22 March 2026 · 2 min read
The List of Niches Where Funny Ads Do Not Work
Wondering whether funny ads work for your brand? Here is the honest list of niches where they fail, plus why comedy wins on ad-account economics in almost every industry.
20 February 2026 · 3 min read
Why Most of Your Marketing Is Wasted Effort
Organic posts and cold outreach feel free, so nobody counts the cost. Put an hourly rate on your time and work out your true cost per sale. The number is often brutal.
10 February 2026 · 3 min read
The One Bottleneck Holding Your Business Back
There is usually one bottleneck making everything in your business feel harder than it should. Working more hours will not fix it. Finding and clearing it will.
26 November 2025 · 2 min read
Why Monty Python Is Still Funny (But Your 2019 Memes Aren't)
A 1975 film had my wife in tears at the Black Knight. My 2019 Baby Yoda memes got a blank stare. Here is the difference between comedy that lasts and comedy that rots.
12 November 2025 · 3 min read
The Gorilla That Saved Cadbury
In 2007 Cadbury put a gorilla behind a drum kit for 90 seconds and said almost nothing about chocolate. It worked. Here is why one funny moment is enough.
29 October 2025 · 3 min read
Why Nobody Trusts Experts Anymore
A marketing guru with 50,000 followers posted his 7 proven strategies. The comments were brutal. Here is what has quietly replaced authority, and what actually works now.
15 October 2025 · 3 min read
The Goldfish Are Laughing at Us
The average goldfish has an attention span of 9 seconds. The average human? 8 seconds. We have been officially outperformed, and most business marketing is still written for the attention spans of 2003.
1 October 2025 · 3 min read
The Most Unprofessional Thing You Can Do in Business
Two competing agencies post on LinkedIn within minutes of each other. One plays it perfectly professional. The other takes a small risk. Only one of them gets remembered, and it is not the safe one.
11 September 2025 · 3 min read
The Funniest Brands on Social Media
Our running collection of the funniest brand posts on social media, each with a quick note on why it works and what you can steal from it.
12 August 2025 · 60 min read
Why Your Customers Think You're Speaking Klingon
I read a client's website copy three times just to work out that they help businesses run better. Every industry has its own secret language, and it is quietly killing your marketing.
28 July 2025 · 3 min read
The Shock and Qualify Technique
Ever notice how stand-up comedians get away with saying outrageous things? They make a shocking claim, then pull back with a qualifier. Here is how to use that same trick to stop the scroll.
16 July 2025 · 3 min read
The $300 Million Dollar Joke
Most businesses treat humour like a loaded gun. Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines built a $300 million company on jokes about oxygen masks and seatbelts. Here is what they understood that their competitors never did.
2 July 2025 · 3 min read
The 'Good News, Even Better News' Hook
One of the simplest, most reusable copy hooks going: deliver relief, then immediately top it. Here is why the second reveal is what keeps people reading.
17 August 2026 · 2 min read
When Even Your Fridge Knows You Need Help
The comedy trope that proves you understand your customer: let the tech in their home call them out. When they laugh, they are agreeing the problem is real.
27 July 2026 · 3 min read
The Real Downsides of Using Comedy in Your Ads
An honest look at the downsides of funny ads. There is exactly one, it is a bit boring, and it doubles as the strongest argument for making the switch.
29 June 2026 · 3 min read
What Boring Ads Are Really Costing You
Boring ads do not just underperform. They quietly tax every pound you spend, in higher CPMs, weaker clicks and lost conversions. Here is what the numbers actually look like.
6 April 2026 · 2 min read
Why Scripting a Sales Video Feels So Hard (And How to Fix It)
Most business owners have no video on their sales page because scripting one feels impossible. Here is the real reason it is so hard, and the one thing that makes it easy.
18 March 2026 · 3 min read
What Becomes Possible When Your Ads Stop Being Boring
Most ads do not fail on targeting, copy or offer. They fail because they are boring. Here is what actually changes in your account when the creative stops being dull.
18 February 2026 · 3 min read
The Real Problem With Ads (And the Bigger Problem With Not)
Running ads feels like you are about to burn the house down. Here is the catch: not running them is the riskier bet, and most owners never notice until it is too late.
9 February 2026 · 2 min read
Please, Not Like This
We have all seen the LinkedIn posts that make you physically cringe. Here is the real difference between the content everyone scrolls past and the content that stops them.
19 November 2025 · 2 min read
My Love-Hate Relationship With Black Friday
Most Black Friday marketing deals are the same product all year, discounted off a price nobody ever paid. Here is the difference between a fake discount and genuine value.
11 November 2025 · 3 min read
How AI Slop Nearly Killed Our Conversion Rate
The flood of lazy AI copy trained your buyers to bounce. Our own conversion rate fell from 4% to under 1%. Here is what happened, and what actually earns attention back.
24 October 2025 · 3 min read
Stop Starting From a Blank Page - Reversion One Framework Across Your Brand
The blank page is the enemy, not the shortage of ideas. Take one proven comedy framework and reversion it across ads, social, emails and sales pages instead of inventing daily.
10 October 2025 · 3 min read
This Is Accelerating
Remember the 47th email that started with 'In these unprecedented times'? That was the moment we all developed Corporate BS Radar. It never switched off, and AI is about to make it stronger.
25 September 2025 · 3 min read
You Don't Need to Be Ryan Reynolds (Thank God)
A business owner told me he was not funny enough to try comedy marketing, because he is no Ryan Reynolds. Here is the all-or-nothing fallacy keeping capable people stuck in marketing mediocrity.
28 August 2025 · 3 min read
Will This Go Viral? (And Other Questions That Make Me Twitch)
On a strategy call last month, a client asked the question every marketer secretly dreads: will this go viral? Here is why it is the wrong question, and the one you should be asking instead.
8 August 2025 · 3 min read
But How Does Comedy Work for Plumbing?
A plumber from Florida asked me the question I hear from almost everyone: how does humour actually work for plumbing? The answer works for any business people assume is boring.
24 July 2025 · 3 min read
Why Gordon Ramsay's Approach to Authority Is Nonsense
If I have to watch one more leadership guru tell business owners to be more like Gordon Ramsay, I will lose my mind. Screaming at people is not authority. Here is what actually earns it.
11 July 2025 · 2 min read