How marketers can stop making slapstick comedy in ads

In today’s fast-paced digital world, brands are constantly looking for new ways to connect with their audiences. One approach that’s gaining significant traction is the use of humour in storytelling. But as anyone who’s tried their hand at comedy knows, the line between a hit and a miss can be razor-thin.

During a panel at Content360 Singapore, comedians and content creators Munah Bagharib and Rishi Budhrani discussed the growing role of laughter in building authentic, engaging brand narratives.

Bagharib, a YouTube pioneer and comedic content creator, shared how her journey began in the early days of social media when platforms such as YouTube were still in its infancy. She recalled the surprise of working with her first corporate client - a government body. “It was just so new. You’re just these two YouTube kids, and suddenly a government client wants to work with you,” Bagharib said.

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But it wasn’t just about landing clients; it was the start of a broader shift in how brands viewed digital content creators and the potential for more authentic, humorous engagements. As brands became more comfortable with new digital formats, they were also willing to take risks with how they communicated.

On the other hand, Budhrani, a seasoned stand-up comedian turned digital content creator, offered insight into the balance between live and digital humor. “Live stand-up and social media have very different rules,” he pointed out.

While a joke that lands well in front of a live audience might not work online, he stressed the importance of understanding the platform and the audience.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: Does humorous content perform differently on social or digital platforms compared to live settings? How can we stop making slapstick comedy with so much of our marketing budget shifting towards social media?

Bagharib:

There's no concrete strategy, because you just have to keep changing around with the times.

Personally, for me, it's just about keeping the content relatable. What I find funny is most important to me first, and so I write for clients based on that and based on what's happening now, what's relevant now. Naturally, people will just be able to gravitate towards it.

Budhrani: Well, I think live stand-up comedy and the rules for live stand-up comedy and social media are very different. We've seen that in situations where a joke or a particular situation can land very well in front of a live comedy crowd that has paid money to watch a stand-up comedy show, knowing what they are involved in or what they're in for- but, if you cut out an excerpt of that live show and you put it online, international incidents might occur. So, I think understanding the medium is a big part of it.

Having trained in the school of hard knocks, whether it's in comedy or storytelling, it is easier to adapt those skills onto social media for video content, as opposed to the other way around. If you ask someone who's a social media influencer and only trains in front of the camera to come and do a live show, I think it's a lot harder for them. That's my experience so far.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: Comedy lives at the edges of being able to poke fun at culture, social norms or trends, but we are also living in very volatile time where people get triggered a lot easier. How do you draw the line?

Budhrani: I think the line is more clear when the dollar sign is bigger!

When you are in a comedy club, you're a bit more colourful with your language, you use different words that maybe you wouldn't use with clients and brands. I spoke to one of the senior comics once and he gave me this bit of advice that stuck with me till today.

He said, “Look, Rishi, if a proper corporate client is asking for a clean show. You do this - you remove the F word from your entire set, and you add a zero to the back of your fee, and that's how you deal with everything moving forward. You want a clean show? It’s going to cost much more.”

Bagharib: When we started our YouTube channel, there were no rules, and it was really just us putting out content that we thought were funny and things that were a bit out there. We did find ourselves in a bit of heat when we put out things that could have been deemed offensive or in hindsight, were actually offensive. Throughout the many years that I've been online, we've sort of learned how to deal with important messages and put it out through humour still.

If you want to put a message out there, especially an important message where you want to spark a conversation, you can't just go out there and get people angry. You want people to think and that's what we try to do with our comedy.

Some of our strategies when dealing with a very sensitive issue is to have little focus groups where we share it with people, with different kinds of peers.

We get their feedback to see where we can do better, where we can make this message stronger, but still keep that authenticity of our brand.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What's one underrated storytelling technique comedians use that marketers should steal, and why does it work so well in keeping audiences engaged?

Budhrani: Hire both of us. Actually, I think one underrated storytelling technique is please don't sell to your clients a viral video. I don't know if marketing agencies still do that but they will say “Hey Rishi, we want to work with you on this next viral video that we are creating,” and I always tell them, “No, you don't decide.”

We don't decide what the viral video is. The audience does. We should stick to creating a good, funny, authentic story.

As far away as you stay from the word viral, the higher the chances of it going viral.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What’s your approach to balancing humour with sensitivity? When's too soon or what's too far?

Budhrani: I think medium plays a big part. I always subscribe this theory of art where art is about getting away with it, and I approach comedy the same way.

If you come to a live stand-up comedy show where tragedy, for example, has happened, and someone who records, or rather writes down what you said in this comedy club and brings it in the papers, you wake up and you’re reading it early in the morning with your coffee, you'll be like, “That's too soon. That's in bad taste. That's horrible. This person should be cancelled.”

But the people who were in the club that night, understood it because you’ve earned the trust of that group of people to go there to make a commentary about something that just happened, and you got away with it because of whatever relationship you had with that live audience. So, I think the medium plays a big part.

Bagharib: This is contextual, and it depends on the situation. Context is very important for us, especially when we're putting out content - whether it's a show, whether it's something online - that we are sensitive to what's going on, so we don't unintentionally put out something that's really insensitive.

We've seen some of the things that’s been put out, and it was in bad taste. Again, go back to the strategy of checking with many people of different sorts of demographics, to get your bases covered and know exactly that the joke is safe enough to go out.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What are your pet peeves when working with corporate brands?

Munah: Feedback that is clear is really helpful. Sometimes we get instances where they come back and they're like, “actually, this part can make it funnier.” Okay, I can but, what do you mean?

Budhrani: I actually am with you on that, because sometimes you have people who have never written or told a joke in their lives giving you advice about comedy.

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