I hate to waste people’s time so let me begin by saying humour in copy is fine. Copywriting has been making people laugh for years. There. You can be on your way but if you’re still unsure, or disagree, read on.
I was dragged into a LinkedIn discussion one weekend (I need to get a life, one that’s filled with boozy brunches and sexy men). I was minding my own business when I got tagged in a post.
The post’s author made this bold claim: don’t use humour in copy. What’s worse was the bloke was a copywriter. Worse still, he didn’t offer an exception: humour should NEVER be used in copywriting. What an embarrassing own goal.
Ironically, I thought he was joking. I dunno where this guy’s been living, maybe he’s never read advertising copy. Or perhaps he’s suffered PTSD after reading Oatly’s wackaging. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, I don’t know what kind of copywriter he is. Writers unlikely to be LOLing up clients’ content are technical copywriters, science copywriters, and B2B copywriters (unless you’re me). Direct-response copywriters can also be a little dry.
Humour in copy is not a requirement.
It really isn’t. Clients and customers buy without puns and funny one-liners. That said, a client might buy because they like your humourous tone of voice. Like sex, humour sells but the question you need to ask is are you being authentic? Contriving funniness is worse than being generic.
It’s probably a good idea not to blow this out of proportion. The tone you choose is the conduit for the message——it’s not the message itself. Humour will turn some people off but if you want clients to share your sense of humour, that’s a good thing. That goes for anything, your business values, your work ethic, your process——anything you pin your colours to will divide opinion.
The problem with humour in copy.
You might offend someone. That was the reason this copywriter gave for avoiding humour in copy. Again, I dunno where this guy’s been living but almost anything can be deemed offensive. That concern shouldn’t drive a marketing campaign. Humour is a great way to find your perfect clients. The people laughing are your audience. Not everyone in your target market will like what you say but you’re not writing for them.
“Write without care or conscience to those who hate your content. They are dead to you.”
>>Learn to write content like a psychopath<<
Humans are delicate flowers, triggered easily (and some make taking offence their full-time job). I commented something similar on this copywriter’s post and a few days later he sent a DM. (You’re not going to believe what he said.)
“It would be more helpful if you could send me book recommendations and resources to demonstrate how humour in copy works.”
I hoped this was grade-A trolling, if so, I was impressed but I think he was serious (which in this context makes perfect sense). Yet another man, asking for unpaid labour. I should’ve told him to fuck off, instead, I sent him a link to my blog.
You couldn’t make this shit up, if you did, no one would believe you. Imagine pitching this as a storyline to Netflix; a copywriter has never seen evidence of how humour works in copy. They wouldn’t commission it, they’d say that’s way too much suspension of disbelief for any audience to accept. (It’s also a really boring idea for a Netflix series.)
It’s fine to use humour in copy.
Most copywriting is unfunny, reading a few business websites will confirm that. Maybe you’d stand out from the crowd if you added some lols——give it a try and see what happens. There is a recent authoritarian movement of policing language so I understand why businesses prefer to play it safe (and continue to be as bland as the next business). Listen, your brand voice is tied to your brand identity. It’s pretty important so I’d recommend working through this stuff with a brand voice specialist (and stop listening to nonsense on social media).
First published, 4th April 2024.
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