Faculty Spotlight: Professor Marc Weinberger
Seriously Funny: Research on Humor in Advertising
Last year, U.S. advertisers spent $140 billion on advertising, $15 to $20 billion of it involving humorous messages, notes Professor Marc Weinberger. Considering those high financial stakes, Weinberger and coauthor Charles Gulas' forthcoming book, Research on Humor in Advertising (M.E. Sharpe), is no laughing matter. "As far as I know, our book is the first comprehensive analysis of humor in advertising in America. And its bibliography, which contains over 400 citations, is also the most comprehensive on the topic," emphasizes Weinberger. The book's forerunner, was an influential 1992 journal article-literature review of the subject by him and Gulas, then a Ph.D. candidate in marketing at the Isenberg School. (Gulas, who is an associate professor of marketing at Wright State University and -- no kidding -- a former standup comic -- earned his Ph.D. from the Isenberg School in 1994.)
Research on Humor in Advertising's ten chapters examine its subject's history, theoretical foundations, advertising content, target audiences, media channels, and other topics. During the first half of the twentieth century, many advertisers avoided humorous pitches because of the risks of bringing ridicule to clients and their brands as well as offending audience segments, explain Weinberger. Even the innovative David Ogilvy kept his distance until persuaded by research in the early 1980s. Humorous pitches did, however, make inroads with the advent of radio in the 1920s and 1930s, and especially television in the 1950s. "In those media, you have play signals like tone of voice that cue viewers that something less than serious is on its way," Weinberger observes. "Play signals are much harder to create in print. In radio and TV, 30 percent of ads are humorous; in magazines, it's around 10 percent."
In advertising humor, someone often becomes the butt of a joke. "To avoid offending your audience, we argue for more testing through focus groups and other vehicles," Weinberger remarks. "Given the sensitivity of today's audiences, advertisers pretty much agree that the fall-guys of choice for humorous ads are -- as you may have guessed -- white males." The product itself is also a factor, he continues. Humor works best in all media with disposable "fun" products like beer, snack foods, and candy. On the other hand, it's a riskier bet with jewelry and fashion items, which are often pricier and connect closely with self-image.