The Social Media Marketing Blog: 10/01/2011

Often times, we use humor to find common ground. An observational comic can take the everyday mundane things and makes make them seem funny with a unique spin. Or slapstick teams use physical gaffes to go for the primeval notion that when someone else gets hurt, we laugh. Comedy on the heels of tragedy helps forge a bond for those who have suffered together, in an effort to pull them through.

But in attempting to use humor, it's important to realize that it's all based on perspective. When a brand or a cause attempts to use humor - especially in the age of social media, where information, rumors and outrage fly fast and furious - it has to be used carefully.

Now that's funny
There are plenty of positive examples out there. One of the most prominent examples in the past year or so has been the Old Spice Man efforts. By using video and going almost for the absurd, "the man your man could smell like" leaves us wondering "I wonder what they'll do next?"

Super Bowl ads tend to be laced with humor, and this year was no exception. But the one that stood out for most, especially with its early airing on YouTube was the Volkswagen commercial The Force. The familiar "Imperial March" from The Empire Strikes Back, combined with the ridiculously large Darth Vader helmet on the boy's tiny frame, along with the universal frustration we've all felt at trying to bring to life our make-believe dreams all come together to create one of the most memorable and funny ads in recent memory.

Ford (my employer) has attempted something this year that has been successful in its own right as well: the Focus Doug campaign, featuring a wise-cracking orange spokespuppet that is anything but politically correct. Directed by Paul Fieg from The Office, Freaks and Geeks and Arrested Development (disclosure: http://cmp.ly/5) and starring John Ross Bowie and Paul F. Thompkins, the videos were aimed at a particular audience that appreciates the improv style and straight-man vs. envelope pusher. The series was designed to showcase product features using humor and situations, rather than simply highlighting product features. As an example, here's how Ford demonstrated the text-to-voice functionality in the 2012 Ford Focus:

Even the recent Roast of Charlie Sheen, hosted on Comedy Central, was successful in its use of humor. You might ask "Why? All people did was cut each other down with their remarks." Well, the point of a roast is that you're supposed to say funny and insulting things about the people there, but everyone is in on it; they understand that being roasted is partly about being able to be the butt of a joke for the sake of entertainment.

Roast of Charlie Sheen

This? Not so much.
When a brand or a cause tries to use humor at the expense of others - especially when the others aren't part of the creative process - it can be harmful. Here are a few cases in point:

Ragu
Earlier this week, Unilever brand Ragu reached out to a number of dads and moms online to get their opinions on cooking. C.C. Chapman saw the video and wondered if Ragu Hates Dads, following it up with some free advice and finally recounting his interaction with the brand manager. There was lots of discussion about Ragu's approach, with some not seeing any harm in it. The thing is, C.C. is a dad who cooks for his kids and he didn't take the stereotyping lightly. Opinions fell on both sides, but it was clear that brands need to consider how they're using humor if they're concerned about their reputation.

The Onion
When is it okay to joke about matters of national security? Never, apparently. Even if you're a news satire site like The Onion. This week, the parody outfit tweeted that there was an emergency in Washington, DC:

Needless to say, this wasn't taken lightly. From news organizations to the Capitol police themselves, people were upset - probably not only at their level of gullibility but of the insensitivity of The Onion to stoop to using humor around a scary topic in this post-9/11 world.

The Next Web
Today, as I was on my treadmill, I shared a link with Mark Horvath, an advocate for bringing attention to the problem of homelessness. The link was to a story on The Next Web about a homeless man who is using Square to accept credit card payments. At first, it sounded like someone in Mark's circles, who like Mark, was innovating in this age of advanced technology. Then I actually took a closer look at the article and watched the video, and it was clearly a fake.

Whether the fake video was designed to bring more awareness to homelessness or simply exploited the homeless issue to be funny, it clearly did more harm than good, as noted in a tweet by a follower:

If you're responsible for a brand or a campaign, the next time you think about humor and its spread online, it may be helpful to think about the subject of the joke. Humor should not be done at the expense of others or in a way that can be misinterpreted. It may turn out to be something that isn't so funny for your brand after all.

Do you have any similar examples? Please consider sharing them.

Image credit: jwalsh (Flickr)
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Labels: brand

About Scott

For hi-res, click here

Ranked by Forbes as one of the top 10 influencers in social media, he has been called "an unstoppable force of nature," "the best corporate social media lead on the planet," and Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford Motor Company, called him "a visionary."

At Ford, Scott heads up the social media function and holds the title Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager. He is a strategic advisor on all social media activities across the company, from blogger relations to marketing support, customer service to internal communications and more, as social media is being integrated into many facets of Ford business.

Prior to joining Ford, Scott served as Consigliere for crayon and spent a number of years with PJA Advertising + Marketing, a boutique BtoB agency specializing in health sciences & high tech.

In addition to his professional responsibilities, Scott is an active blogger and podcaster. He writes about the intersection of advertising, marketing and PR at The Social Media Marketing Blog and also writes The Baker Street Blog and cohosts I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, two literary undertakings. Scott has been featured in hundreds of news and business publications in print and on the web, in nearly dozens of books, and on a variety of mainstream media, including NBC, NPR, CNN and The Wall Street Journal. Scott is a recognized thought leader in the social media industry and frequently speaks at industry events.

Scott received his Master's in Medical Science from Boston University's School of Medicine concurrently with his MBA from BU's Graduate School of Management. He lives in the greater Detroit area with his wife and two young sons, golfs all too infrequently, and has a hidden talent for voice over work.

Oh, and one last little-known fact: Scott coined the Oxford Dictionary of English-accepted term "tweetup."

You may download a headshot here, courtesy of Rosh Sillars; a PDF version of Scott's bio is here .

Books in which Scott or his work is featured:

The Social Media Strategist

Social Business by Design

Digital Strategies for Powerful Corporate Communications

Social Media Marketing for Dummies

Real-Time Marketing and PR: How to Instantly Engage Your Market, Connect with Customers, and Create Products that Grow Your Business Now

Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web

Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business

Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements

Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead

MicroMarketing: Get Big Results by Thinking and Acting Small

Spend Shift: How the Post-Crisis Values Revolution Is Changing the Way We Buy, Sell and Live

Power Friending: Demystifying Social Media to Grow Your Business

The New Rules of Marketing & PR

by David Meerman Scott

Twitterville
by Shel Israel

Six Pixels of Separation
by Mitch Joel

Monkeys with Typewriters
by Jemima Gibbons

Read This First
by Ron Ploof

World Wide Rave
by David Meerman Scott

Get Seen
by Steve Garfield

Disclosures/Relationships

Scott is on the board of the Social Media Advertising Consortium

Scott has been named to the Advisory boards of Pivot, SavvyAuntie, Business Smart Tools, The Hive Awards,
Scott is a judge for the SAMMY Awards

Named one of iMedia's 25 Top Internet Marketing Leaders & Innovators

Humongo occasionally does web work for me and designed this site

No animals were harmed in the making of this blog.

Scott Monty Bio

Speaking Events

Scott speaks on social media at events, seminars and conferences around the world. His topic generally focuses on corporate use of social media, becoming an online spokesperson, and specifically on the progress that Ford has made in the recent past. If you're interested in booking Scott to speak at your event, please click here to submit a speaking request for Ford-related purposes or email me at speaking [AT] this site's URL (if you know what I mean) to send a general email request.. Scott's bio and headshot can be found in the "About Scott" tab above.

Who is Scott Monty?

Hi, I'm Scott. I'm the global head of social media for Ford Motor Company. This is my personal blog, where I share my perspectives on social media - the convergence of marketing, advertising and PR on the Web - for marketers, agencies, the enterprise and the individual. This blog contains my personal views. My bio is available here and my headshots can be found here.