Tragedy + Time in Advertising
Last night, I was lucky enough to attend Mike Birbiglia's new show "The New One," at the Largo Coronet in Los Angeles. Birbiglia, an Ira Glass-ian level storyteller who weaves non-sequiturs and self-deprecating humor throughout an overarching personal narrative, traces his own emotional and attitudinal evolution towards the idea of parenthood, and in particular, his wife's desire to have a child. If you've watched any of Birbiglia's specials or movies on Netflix or seen him live, then you have a general sense of how his meandering point of view culminates in true depth and poignancy by the end of the show. In effect, by retelling his most personal episodes (a hilarious aside about a visit to Amsterdam's Red Light District gone wrong comes to mind), he becomes increasingly more relatable to the audience even as the stories seem to move farther and farther away from the initial message. And isn't that what good comedy does? It reorients familiar situations by observing them in new lights and by doing so, imbues them with new meaning. Good comedy does a lot of things but the best comedy illuminates what we feel to be true and expresses that truth in a narrative light that we hadn't considered or truly grasped.
Great comedy tells a story about human truths.
That's why comedy and advertising should be such natural fits. Advertising has a infinitesimal amount of time to hook the audience and tell a story rooted in human nature and experience. Humor does all of those things and conveys positive emotions to the benefit of all. Funny is memorable. Humor helps us cope and understand the world. But apart from some spurts weird-vertising (now a dirty word in the industry), comedy seems to have fallen in the pecking order for preferred strategies and creative executions.
Given comedy and advertising's enduring and entangled legacy, why has the creative business opted to not keep laughing all the way to the bank?
Comedy is having a bit of a moment. As redundant as that sounds (also the phrase "a moment" is having its moment, so apologies in advance), comedy is being celebrated and scrutinized in new and expanding ways, so it is worth briefly diving into the current state of comedy. Comedians have always been rabble-rousers and critics, but now they're held up as guideposts, revered for their ability to speak truth to power, influential in cultural discussions, and expected to deliver iconoclastic yet prescient commentary in this viral video and nano-second attention span world. Most notably, late night talk shows have mined comedy gold (shit?) from the catastrophic incompetence and negligence of this administration, giving rise to new leaders of the #Resistance in the forms of Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, and Seth Meyers, among others. The overabundance of anger and resentment has led to funny, but mostly somber excoriations on the current state of politics, the media, and culture that as a whole have proved catharsis and vindication for millions of viewers.
But Jon Stewart and his disciples have been doing this for a while, and the reality is that the comedy boom goes well beyond late night and the comedic refuse emanating from the White House's atrocities. As with most content discussions, the spotlight quickly shifts to Netflix, which has cornered the stand-up comedy market and brought new, and a lot of old (re: legendary), comedians into the fold. With a ridiculous offering of new specials from icons like Dave Chappelle, Ellen Degeneres, Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman, and Jerry Seinfeld, no platform has invigorated the comedy genre quite like this. In true algorithmic fashion, the streaming service may bury many up-and-comers underneath its personalization engine, but it has also launched the careers of many important comedians as well. Like HBO in the 90s and early 00s, Netflix's cultural capital has added a layer of credence to the names it picks for specials, giving comedians a previously unfathomable jumpstart. Ali Wong, Bill Burr, Aziz Ansari, and many others have broken through to wider audiences thanks to the accessibility inherent in the platform. Stand-up comedy is more relevant and popular than ever, with a new crop of fans lifting current comedians to prominence while discovering some of the greats for the first time.
Comedy also extends beyond the stage and TV screen because of social media. Rather than focus on how social media has cut out the middlemen and given rise to new voices, social media's comedy influence will probably be more lastingly felt in the pervasive spread of comedy across all forms of media. Now everyone is funny. Twitter and Instagram are staging grounds for the latest nonsensical memes (people are still eating fucking Tide Pods - what a time). Podcasts are a proving ground where talent can launch their careers or where people turn for a new spin on current issues and formats. “It feels like everybody’s a comedian,” Michael Che, cast member and head writer on SNL, says in a Washington Post piece. “Even news articles are written with a humorous twist and the headline is funny.” Social media has become a vehicle to push everyone's personal brand, and nothing is more charming, attractive, popular, self-revealing, or attention-grabbing than a bit of humor. Between the increased visibility of upstart comedians on social media and the general infusion of comedy into the everyday discussion, comedy is in a golden age, which means there is a saturation of funny.
At a time when the general attitude is dourness, comedy, comedians, and the act of being funny has never been more popular, important, and personal.
Traditionally, funny sells. If advertisers have a short window with which to grab a consumer's attention, a snappy line or joke is an effective and popular solution. Some of the most ingenious and memorable ads employ humor to devastating and lasting effect. Situational humor can be a universal language that connects and entertains in subconscious ways. But with humor comes risks, and that is where funny advertising has run into problems in the past few years.
Social media's import to modern comedy is a good starting place for the decline of funny advertising. Social media moves quickly, and advertisers are not always equipped or able to keep up with that breakneck pace. The story of the moment is always changing, and the meme of the day (again with the fucking Tide Pods) may stick around or be forgotten for the next joke story. Brands are now forced to have a presence on social media, but that doesn't mean that every brand utilizes the platforms effectively or know what conversations are authentic to their brand voice. Wendy's bashing its competitors plays for good Internet laughs and points, but as a sustained strategy, it loses its luster in the swell of shareable content and it is difficult to gauge the lasting impact of temporarily jumping into the fray. Nowadays, if you're late to the party, the party has probably moved to an entirely new location. Such is the speed at which the Internet operates.
The exponential amount of content brings up another pitfall of employing humor to sell products. Social media, and the media in general, is so diverse and so fractured that what comes up on one end of the media spectrum may not appear in the other. In other words, it is impossible to grasp the full breadth and consequences of a conversation. This leads to content, particularly from advertisers, that may play well to the desired target, but falls flat, and even offends, the other end of the spectrum. The most notable example is the Pepsi and Kylie Jenner debacle that sparked outrage across the Internet. Though not intended to be funny, the spot tried to participate in the topic du jour and missed the mark by a mile. Being funny requires being in on the joke and participating in a larger and relevant narrative. If issues are out of bounds and may offend, conscious companies and diligent agencies would rather play it safe than rock the boat and risk alienating a portion of their base. As Dave Chappelle recently discovered, even well-intentioned commentary doesn't always fly in this hypercritical and hypersensitive environment.
The politicized climate does not mean that brands are shying away from the issues. In fact, it has emboldened many. But rather than take a stand through humor, which is guaranteed to make some laugh and make some scowl, brands have opted for more serious and emotional approaches. Last year's Super Bowl was a coming out party for brands wishing to take a stand or send a message, but the trend stretches much farther back, with brands like Dove striking gold with their impactful and narrative-driving campaigns. SNL skewered this idea, but when brands take a stand, it lends credence to their message and signals to consumers that it is okay to proceed. Brands are sticking to an emotional angle, though that angle no longer defaults to comedy. With every issue becoming a lightning rod, brands now connect via sincerity. In the end, advertisers are still just trying to move units, but would rather foster that trust and connection with a specifically resonant message instead of an all-capturing joke.
Is humor in advertising going the way of sex in advertising? I doubt it. Given the explosion and importance of comedy in this day and age, it would be a shame if advertising didn't find a way to be impactful while also entertaining through laughter. I also don't believe any copywriter got in this business to write somber scripts all day. That being said, our cultural mores are evolving, and with it, our sense of humor. Jokes can have the same emotional resonance as an accurate depiction of life, if not more. It's about striking a balance between humor and sincerity. Advertising may not be the right format for the kind of incisive humor that leaves a mark, but that doesn't mean it can't be influential.
As Birbiglia mentions in his special, "Thank God For Jokes," an aptly named odyssey on the importance of jokes and humor, he "loves [...] jokes. They’re just your side of the story." As advertising tries to reflect on its role in larger cultural conversations, the industry may find that comedy is just as effective, but that the types and role of humor with that conversation has shifted. But if advertisers are just trying to tell a compelling story, I believe that finding the humor in everyday situations will take the final product a long way.