In this panel, David Weinstock, Jim Beiderman,Tony Mennuto discuss the art of using humor in advertisements and the best practices for doing so.

Tony Mennuto kicked of the panel with a discussion of radio advertisements and keeping listeners engaged with humor. Mennuto is the creative director of Radioface which specializes in the field. He noted that today you have to, “create content that cuts through clutter.”
In the following interview, Mennuto discusses the importance ensuring that the humor of the ad campaign has a chance to evolve through each ad.

David Weinstock, the creative director behind “The Most Interest Man” ad campaign of Dos XX’s went over the “sciency” elements of humor. Weinstock points out that, “funny is a need” and that there is value in a laugh. He then discusses the need states of a funny ad and how that pertains to social media.

Need States for Funny Ads (The five-version of a trifecta)

• Need to be relatable,
• Shared sensibility
• Desire to be the first post
• Desire to be the funny one
• Ability to share easily

Jim Beiderman, Exec Producer of JimCo, The Whitest Kids U’Know, and The Onion News Network among others commented that the most important take away from what audiences watch is that they understand it. Whether or not they take offense to a sketch or ad is not as important as the fact that they actually get the jokes.