Do cliches, humor or corny ad slogans work? Here are some examples of what I am talking about: “The Summer Sales are Really Starting to Heat up!” or “Check out our Vacuums, they Really Suck!” We see and hear these all the time, whether it’s TV, Radio, Print or Internet ads.You would think our instinct is to roll our eyes and maybe let out a chuckle and move on right? The answer surprisingly is no, we may indeed roll our eyes, we may even chuckle out loud, but we do not skip the ad! As a matter of fact, not only do we check out the ad it usually sticks with us for the day we even tell at least a few of our friends and co-workers about it. This is exactly what we want from our ad and if we are clever enough to ensure our brand is related in some positive way, they will remember your company.What was the last commercial you remember with serious, dramatic or worrying content? If you can come up with an ad that contains even the slightest bit of humor it will usually sell for you. I believe, we find it easier to see things with humor involved especially during a recession and there is a different variety of humor from slapstick to sarcasm that will make people laugh or smile. Let’s face it most of us will groan at a bad joke but we will remember it.Now I would not base an entire ad campaign on humorous or cliched ads, however, now don’t laugh, I would definitely include at least one humor ad in my campaign! There is no real downside as funny will sell and if the ad doesn’t generate sales it may set up a sale for the next time they see another one of your ads.

I’m a very friendly person; I make connections easily with most people. I also notice the tons of little details most folks overlook. It all started with my childhood desire to become another Norman Rockwell. That’s when I first began observing things people normally glossed over. At one time it was how an eyeball reflected light; another time it was the natural lines in lips. I checked out hair, ears, folds of clothing and treads on tires. When I realized that I was becoming the epitome of an obsessive-compulsive illustrator trying to make things as real as real actually is, illustrating strand by strand and leaf by leaf, creating every hair follicle as an individual entity, I became fully aware that it was time to call it quits or make myself a nut case.I decided to channel all that attention to detail in another direction, observing all I could about what goes on around me. This time I was more relaxed, casually noticing the differences in people and how they reacted in response to various stimuli. I listened to what they were saying concerning a variety of subjects, noticed how they walked and reacted to one another, and observed what makes them do what they do when they do it. I became an observer of the human race, and while I was doing it, found that if you approach things with a sense of humor, you’ll become relaxed enough to view them from all possible angles.Take for instance the subject of selling shoes in a TV spot. Initially, wouldn’t it be funny to show a serious business area street scene, with each passerby walking in their own unique and painful gait, as they suffer through the experience of getting to where they’re going in their brand X footwear? You’ve seen individuals that walk funny because their shoes are ill fitting. Put them all together on one street and you’ve got yourself a very funny scene. Forget about the message or what we’d do in subsequent scenes. Just keep thinking and acting out this scene, and let your sense of humor take over. In short order, you’ll make yourself double over with laughter. If you don’t believe me, try it. That’s why making a commercial is fun. If you have enough people contributing their thoughts driven by their unique outlooks on humor, you get to approach your pitch from all possible points of view.In recent commercials they used a dog trained to rub his behind across a rug as if he had worms; maybe that one’s not for you. Then there are more subtle approaches with tongue-in-cheek humor. The Caveman for Geico, the Geico Gecko, the FedEx guy who spent five years as a castaway and upon his return delivered the package he had been protecting. When his curiosity got the best of him and he asked the recipient what it contained, he learned it was a cell phone, a GPS device and a variety of other survival gear.No matter how funny or how serious the end product may be, it all starts out with a bizarre outlook that reflects everyone’s sense of humor. It gets funnier and funnier, sillier and sillier until you arrive at the point you want to be. I saw a cartoon once that showed a woman standing in front of a headstone that read: I think there’s something wrong with the roast beef. The name of the burial grounds shown on the archway just above her head, read something like: Famous Last Words Cemetery. Then there was the Suburban Auto Group who ran a series of Trunk Monkey spots. They showed various hot spot situations that drivers got themselves into, such as a pregnant woman in the back seat ready to give birth, teenagers pelting a car with snowballs, a car thief breaking into a parked automobile, a woman stopped by a traffic trooper, and a burly trucker pounding on a driver’s window trying to egg him out for a fight. In each case, a real chimp, headquartered in the trunk came to the rescue. In the case of the trucker looking for a fight, the driver pressed the Trunk Monkey button and the chimp came out wielding a tire iron that he used to KO the trucker. Each situation ended in the chimp saving the day and promoting a different dealership service. In the truck driver incident, it was promoting a revolutionary new service pending approval from the Attorney General.So if you’re planning to put your business into a commercial, funny, serious or tongue in cheek, start by thinking way, way out of the box. Believe me, it doesn’t require tons of money to make a commercial worth remembering; it takes a good sense of humor to think up the most memorable scenarios.

There exist several forms and styles of poetry. Some are more serious than others; alternatively, some are very humorous. One of the most humorous form and style is the limerick, which is written with a special flair. There are other ways of writing poetry with humor, such as using the narrative form; however, once the word limerick is mentioned one knows it is time for humor. The following limerick series is all about humor in poetry and it is related to a “Girl Named Ann.” It is written in the trilogy format of three poems in a set linking with each other. It starts like a narrative storyline, a period of rising conflict, a climaxing point, and ends with a resolution where things return to normalcy and stability.Girl Named Ann Limerick SeriesThere is a real sweet girl name AnnWearing a smile just like-oh dang!Along came sweet PeteThinks he is real neatHis moves land him in right the can~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~She is like a fast spinning topWill make you hop while drinking scotchStepping up is SamMighty slick-oh manHe gets off her lap with a slap~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~Along came silly and sweet JackOffering to rub her backFor her hand he did askWithout wearing a maskThey raise a Cracker Jack pack~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~© Joseph Spence, Sr., 8/6/09© All Rights Reserved~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~The limerick is a light humorous, nonsensical, or bawdy verse of five lines usually with the rhyme scheme aabba. The first, second, and fifth lines must rhyme with each other. The third and fourth lines also rhyme with each other in a manner that is similar to lines one, two and five. Additionally, the limerick must be funny. It normally tells a story in some way, shape, or form, and is easily followed.