Hey Adland, Why So Serious?

Drop into agency creative departments and the word around the table is: funny commercials are getting harder to greenlight. Whether that’s a trend or just a feeling, humorous content does seem to be appearing less and less, replaced by brand manifestos, emotional sincerity, and purpose-driven storytelling.

Maybe it’s the cultural moment. Maybe certain humor doesn’t translate across audiences. Maybe it’s the risk calculus: betting money on funny is hard when an older generation of decision-makers has to approve jokes written by a younger team, and one misread tone turns into a Twitter moment no one wants.

But Funny Works

We’ve produced everything from heart-tugging PSAs to genuinely funny spots for financial institutions. All of them worked, for the right brief. The idea that emotional earnestness is the only safe creative bet is not backed up by results.

Humor creates recall. It makes people share. It humanizes brands in a way that thirty seconds of product features never will. When it’s done right, a funny spot can carry a brand for years.

The Approval Problem

Here’s the real issue: funny is harder to defend in a room. You can always explain why a heartfelt story is “on-brand.” It’s harder to explain why a specific joke is going to land with a specific audience at a specific moment. Funny requires creative confidence, and creative confidence requires trust.

When approval chains get long and risk aversion goes up, humor is usually the first thing cut. Not because it doesn’t work, but because it’s harder to defend.

The Craft Isn’t Gone

The writers, directors, and producers who know how to execute comedy well — timing, casting, restraint — they’re still out there. The skills haven’t disappeared. The appetite for funding the work has.

Brands that are willing to take the creative risk are still winning with humor. The ones that aren’t are producing very earnest content that no one is talking about.

Hey Adland: it’s okay to make people laugh again.