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Comedy is a powerful marketing tool, and many ad world mavens have long understood its intrinsic value as a clutter buster, brand builder and attention grabber.
And in 2024, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity finally got hip to the rib-tickling genre, after at least a decade of handing out hardware disproportionately to weighty, purpose-driven work. The coveted Oscars for commercials even added a humor subcategory for the first time.
Comedy in its many forms never left, yet it came roaring back at the recent conference, enough to give 2024 an unofficial name: The Year of the Laughing Lions.
There was “a massive swing toward more humorous winners,” according to System1’s post-Cannes study, which found 75% of U.S. and U.K. winners used humor, up from 52% in 2023. (Meanwhile, only 13% of this year’s winners were identified as purpose-centric ads.)
“Humor is firmly back on the advertising agenda and juries are taking note,” per Jon Evans, chief customer officer at System1, who said that such campaigns “tend to be more effective” with consumers.
But how do they rate with real-life comedians and comedy writers? ADWEEK posed the question, gathering insight from folks who are well-equipped to gauge if a piece of content is funny haha, funny strange or simply not funny at all.
Among the critics for the half-dozen award-winning campaigns we chose to dissect:
- Steph Barkley, director-comedian and CEO of Two Socks, a creative production house in L.A. specializing in comedy
- Kimmy Dubé, video editor at Cosmo Street Editorial and go-to collaborator for comedy-centric indie agency Party Land
- Zoe Kessler, ADWEEK Creative 100 alum, stand-up comedian by night and group creative director at Johannes Leonardo by day
- Matt Buechele, award-winning writer-comedian from The Tonight Show, with viral ads for Netflix, Bose and Apple Arcade on his CV
- Tom Scharpling, writer, producer, podcaster and director
- Vinita Khilnani, actor, writer and content creator
Read on for their insights.
CeraVe “Michael Cerave” by Ogilvy PR New York
Scharpling: “Perfect use of Michael Cera. A celebrity playing themselves in a spot that felt fresh—not easy anymore. Love how it ends on a minor note. Good showcase of the product.”
Khilnani: “When I think of body lotion and soft luscious skin, I think of Emily Ratajkowski and her amazing tushy, not that pasty white virgin from Superbad. But on a more serious note, self-deprecating humor is always a win. It’s going to make people walk into stores and see the CeraVe, and be like, oh yeah, Michael Cera. I should try this. Plus now my Indian grandmother can finally pronounce it correctly.”
Buechele: “The quicker, funnier version would be to have Michael Cera just matter of factly state that ‘the only reason I’m getting paid to do this is because you can make a pun out of my last name. That’s it. Michael CeraVe. I don’t hate it though, the check clears.’ No need to get into what the product actually does or him pitching the ad to a room—it’s lotion, we get it.”
Dubé: “I remember hearing about the CeraVe spot through a couple of male friends who do not give one shit about lotion or any other beauty/self care products. This is a clever way to reach people who normally wouldn’t pay any attention to this type of ad.”
Barkley: “There are two things I love about this ad: the effortless commitment from Michael Cera and the distraught conference table of CeraVe employees as the button. It’s a clever way to let the audience know ‘this is a joke’ but also maybe, it wasn’t a joke to Michael Cera. It’s aware of itself but not in a meta way, more in a sweet, innocent way, exposing our hero.”
Uber Eats “Best Friends” by Mother London
Dubé: “Silly is great, but awkward is even better. There is something about people making complete fools of themselves that make us giggle and cringe and stayed glued til the end. Maybe it’s because we can all relate to being that awkward idiot who can’t seem to get it right. Taking yourself too seriously can sometimes come off as phony and self-important. When you maximize the stupidity, you suddenly become relatable or maybe get some new attention.”
Buechele: “I’d cut everything after 1:15 and go right to the title card. It’s funnier that way—we don’t need to see De Niro pretend to enjoy playing ping pong. Food delivery services have a good comedic connection with people not wanting to interact with other humans, so we could even see a line to end the ‘on set’ scene of him explicitly saying, ‘You know? I actually order Uber Eats because I don’t like having to talk to strangers.’”
Barkley: “I watched this entire short film—why? Because Asa Butterfield’s ability to do subtle and seeing Robert De Niro play happy. The underlying messaging of ‘we like what we like’ but also getting the brand’s messaging out there too, ‘we like to go places and we like to eat food,’ loved it.”
Scharpling: “A masterpiece. De Niro is so good in this. Paced out well, legitimately funny, not just ‘commercial funny.’ Also showcased the product extremely well. Kinda perfect!”
Khilnani: “I really appreciate this ad because I have always wondered if Robert De Niro eats food. The whole parent/child dynamic was really relatable. The rough indifferent shell of De Niro and the wanting/needing/craving love of this man child—does the entire world have daddy issues? I know I do. Well, I don’t, but I kind of do.”
Sabina Braless “Baifern Meets the Family” by Sour Bangkok
Barkley: “The commitment to the joke was unwavering—when we thought it was over, it wasn’t. Giving the brand not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, but six times to get their messaging across. And all women will love this bra.”
Buechele: “This works on a strictly ‘show the product a ton’ level, but the comedy needs to heighten more. We’re basically seeing the same beat four times. Let’s see the kitchen staff cooking in only their bras. Let’s see a delivery guy in a bra on a moped.”
Scharpling: “A solid spot, maybe goes on a little too long for the premise. But the writing and the direction is at a high level, can’t knock the craft. I could’ve done without the button being ‘aren’t old people gross?’”
Kessler: “This is a standout to me. The editing and performances are perfect—dry and expertly timed. Not to mention it’s hard working, I actually take away the product benefit really clearly. Excellent ad.”
Khilnani: “I loved this ad, but it was two bras too many. Usually ads showcase the brand, not every model. We get it. These bras are supportive and make these women feel comfortable. The whole ‘gotcha’ aspect of ad is fun, but there’s a definite number of times before it becomes overdone. The grandmother at the end was my favorite.”
Dramamine “The Last Barf Bag” by FCB Chicago
Barkley: “It had me engaged at the beginning. Well shot, well executed. I would have much preferred to stay with [barf bag collector] Bruce Kelly a little longer, and I wish his note was written from a plane or boat. And maybe it wasn’t about Dramamine but about how he was glad he had this barf bag with him for the moments leading up to when his Dramamine kicked in.”
Khilnani: “I learned more in this ad than I did in four years in college. Can barf bags be the next Birkin? I would have liked to spend more time with the collectors and their most prized possessions. Also, did they only collect bags from flights they’ve flown, or could they ask their friends, families, neighbors to get them bags, or are they allowed to buy them off eBay? As you can see, I have more questions about the barf bags and not so much about Dramamine.”
Kessler: “The insight on ‘The Last Barf Bag’ is hard to ignore. The best comedy comes from looking at the world sideways through an honest lens, and that insight coming from that brand, regardless of the execution, is award-worthy.”
Buechele: “My one note here would be to never make an ad 13 minutes long in 2024, the year of pressing on the right side of your phone to speed up the playback of a 13-second TikTok.”
Pop-Tarts “The First Edible Mascot” by Weber Shandwick New York
Barkley: “When I see things like this I feel like I’m watching The Hunger Games and I’m insulted.”
Scharpling: “This ended up feeling like a victory lap when nobody knew Pop-Tarts ‘won’ anything. Ultimately leaves me feeling kinda empty in the end. Too back-patting and proud of such a limp stunt. Also doesn’t feel like the best way to celebrate Pop-Tarts or make me want a Pop-Tart.”
Khilnani: “I am kind of a healthy person, so having Americans, which I am proud to be, fall prey to their own stereotype is kinda cliche to me. Let’s fight the perception that the rest of the world has of us being gluttons that are obsessed with sugar and gladiator-esque sports. I found the commercial to be a bit long as well. We get it. There’s a mascot, it’s a Pop-Tart, and now we’re eating it. Not Dostoevsky over here.”
Buechele: “Zero notes on the edible mascot holding a sign saying ‘dreams really do come true,’ before plunging to his death, implying that he wants nothing more in life than to sacrifice himself so others can eat him. It’s giving biblical stakes, it’s giving ‘this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world—happy are those who are called to His supper.’ But in this situation he is not the lord and savior, he is a strawberry-filled breakfast cookie.”
Specsavers “The Misheard Version” by Golin London
Barkley: “Cool concept, it worked! I like seeing artists not take themselves too seriously, thank you Rick Astley.”
Buechele: “I like the idea a lot, I just wish they had picked a different song. We as a society need to move on from ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ being the all-purpose comedy song and pass the crown to some other one-hit wonder. My suggestion is ‘Laffy Taffy’ by D4L.”
Scharpling: “This one is what the Pop-Tart spot should’ve/could’ve been. There’s a goal, a focus and a sense of being in on the adventure. This is a fun one, and you get excited about the song catching fire and getting misheard by so many people. I loved this one.”
Khilnani: “This ad hit home for me, in the sense that I have a parent who is hard of hearing, but also I have been Rick Rolled many times. But it’s not specific enough as to what the point of the song was. People who are hard of hearing can barely hear the song. And they are probably old, meaning their memory is going. So I don’t get it. Can they not hear? Can they not remember the lyrics? What? I can’t hear you.”
