<ul>
<li>Humor breaks down walls, shows personality a.k.a. shows a brand's human side.</li>
<li>Humor is attention-grabbing. It is naturally colorful and original.</li>
<li>People love to spread laughter. Making your campaign humorous will ensure it is shared more.</li>
<li>Any message imbued with humor will be easier for your target demographics to remember.</li>
</ul>

Humor benefits to marketing materials

<ul>
<li>The wrong joke at the wrong time. It can make your brand look amateurish and unprofessional.</li>
<li>If people think you’re cracking jokes for the sole purpose of getting more attention, you’ll be seen as exploitative rather than funny.</li>
<li>Humor can cheapen certain ideas or make them be taken less seriously.</li>
<li>In some cases, humor can be outright offensive.</li>
</ul>

What humor is, at its worst

<ul><li>Humorous touches can almost always improve a piece that is already valuable on its own.</li> 
 <li>If you’re sure a joke is going to land, it can make an effective advertisement. Test variations of the joke with a small audience first; that way, you can be sure the humor doesn’t cross a line.</li> 
 <li>Brand differentiation. For example, <a href="https://www.201digital.co.uk/way-social-cookie-crumbles-genius-oreos-social-media-marketing-can-learn/">Oreo has long differentiated itself</a> by offering a quirky, tongue-in-cheek voice across its social media platforms. This is especially effective in dry, or otherwise “boring” industries.</li> 
 <li>Personal branding. Elon Musk, for example, has separated himself from his companies Tesla and SpaceX by cracking jokes and roasting people on his own account.</li></ul>

Key areas to create value with humor

<ul>
<li>Tasteless or offensive humor. Careful with jokes abour specific group of people or sensitive subjects.</li>
<li>Bad timing. If your brand is undergoing a PR crisis, or if there’s a natural disaster about to hit your city, people aren’t going to want to read your jokes.</li>
<li>Brand misalignment. If your brand is one that takes itself seriously or appeals to people who prefer stoicism to levity, you won’t be served by including more humor in your campaign. </li>
<li>You can also face backlash if you try to use a running joke or meme without fully understanding it.</li>
</ul>

Using humor: watch out for these key threats

If you have ever met me, even for a split-second, you know I am someone who never takes anything too seriously. Life is just way too short not to laugh along the way. So needless to say I am a huge proponent of infusing humor into marketing and advertising.