As a radio advertising expert whose job is to teach radio advertising professionals how to write effective radio commercials, I run into lots of copywriters who want to write “funny commercials.”
The goal of a radio commercial never should be to “be funny.” It should be to sell.
But if you are going to write a funny commercial, here are 10 questions to ask before you begin.
1. Is it really funny?
2. Is it actually funny when listeners hear it 10 times?
3. Do you know for certain that it’s funny the 30th time?
4. Does the comedy revolve around someone’s need for the product or service?
5. Does it have an internal logic? (Are the characters’ actions consistent within the story’s own reality?)
6. When listeners remember the comic storyline, will they remember the product/service being advertised?
7. Does the humor derive from recognizable human behavior…or does it derive merely from jokes?
8. Do the performers commit to the portrayals of their characters….or do they treat their own characters as a joke?
9. Is there a “Key Moment” that repeat listeners can look forward to?
10. Does the key moment appear at or close to the end of the radio commercial? (That is where it belongs.)
11. Are its characters and situations predictable?
12. Does it contain a “delightful surprise”?
13. Is there a smooth build-up of comic tension?
14. Is there some sort of conflict to drive the story?
15. Does it rely on a catch phrase made popular by some other media message (e.g., film, TV show, print advertisement, commercial? (If so, it’s likely to reinforce the original media message, not your commercial message.)
16. Do your characters sound real, or do they sound like disc jockeys or actors?
17. Do your characters interact with each other, or do they just recite their lines….or are they just delivering their lines in a vacuum?
18. Is the humor in the radio commercial consistent with the advertiser’s desired brand image?
19. Is the humor the result of relatable human behavior or does it come from empty production tricks? (Some producers love production tricks, even when there’s no reason to use them.)
20. Is the commercial trying to be clever….or is it trying to sell the service or product?