An Unruly report released on July 10, 2013 was recapped in a post by Greg Jarboe “Want Your Video Ads to Go Viral? Stop Trying to be Funny.”
In the article about the Unruly report, Greg Jarboe writes, “The two most popular ads from this year’s Super Bowl attracted the most shares on Facebook, Twitter, and the blogosphere because they did not try to make people laugh.”
The most shared ads, according to the report, evoked emotions of “warmth, happiness, awe and pride.” The least-shared ads showed “low levels of hilarity and surprise” and confused viewers. I agree that the Budweiser Brotherhood and Ram Farmer ads were awesome, but not because they weren’t funny. They were well done. So are funny ads that succeed. This year’s humorous Super Bowl ads didn’t get shared on social media as often as the two winners, but several were ranked as “Extremely Sociable,” including at least five “funny” ads.
It is difficult to create and produce a video that elicits the intended reaction, whether it tugs at the heartstrings or tickles the funny bone. I think writing funny is harder to get right than writing serious, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. It certainly doesn’t mean an ad gets shared because it wasn’t trying to be funny.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but the article also notes that those two ads were successful “because they evoked a different set of emotional triggers from the rest.” Huh? Or maybe they were the ones that evoked sincere emotion.
Among the 12 top ads on Super Bowl Sunday, only these two were defined by Unruly as “Viral Video Chart Toppers,” with the VW ad a close third. Goes to show how difficult it is to elicit a response that motivates people to share online, funny or not.
Judge for yourself and check out the top 10 ads from Super Bowl Sunday.
Patti Testerman is owner of Testerman Communications. Patti is an award-winning copywriter and creative director with a background of 20 years in print and interactive communications at agencies, corporations, and as owner of Testerman Communications. She earned her B.A. in English from the University of Delaware.
