Humor in Advertising, Outline Example

I. Introduction

1. Advertisements are often more important than the products they try to sell in terms of making profits for a company.
2. Advertisers try to connect emotions with products.
3. a) They may use fear, joy, attraction, or humor.
4. b) Humor in advertising is focused on social norms and social acceptance.

II. Advertisers create the illusion of need.

1. All advertisements share one common element: they are all selling capitalism.
2. Humor in ads has two sides: one shows social acceptance; the other shows the consequences of social rejection.
3. a) Products are shown to symbolize social belonging.
4. b) Products are shown to help correct social defects or shortcomings.

III. Advertisers show people what they want the world to be like.

1. A statistical study of mothers shows that women reject glamor in ads.
2. a) Women want ads that show real women. … only 5% say they can relate to the women they see in the media” (“Moms Vote for Reality” 3)
3. b) Advertisers want glamorous women because the image creates need.
4. Advertisers use jokes to show those who are either included or shunned from society.
5. a) The “Coo-Coo for Cocoa Puffs” commercial shows this dynamic.
6. b) The product is always the answer to social anxiety.

IV. Advertisers exploit the basic human psychology of social anxiety to create need.

1. Franz Kafka’s Metamorphisisillustrates the principles of human psychology that are part of social acceptance and social exclusion.
2. “Interpersonal humor reflects the social context in which humor occurs.” (Riecken and Hensel).

V. The basic message of advertisements is: more things equal more happiness.

1. The film Trading Placestypifies the kind of propaganda that portrays American capitalism as a fairy-tale like land of opportunity.
2. The machinery of capitalism is based on endless consumption.
3. a) The creation of artificial need is necessary to perpetuate consumption.
4. b) Advertisers use humor in conjunction with social anxiety to create artificial need. Products are shown as solutions to the threat of rejection.

Works Cited

“Moms Vote for Reality and Humor in Advertising.” Marketing to Women: Addressing Women and Women’s Sensibilities Dec. 2005: 3.

Riecken, Glen, and Kyle Hensel. “Using Humor in Advertising: When Does It Work?” Southern Business Review 37.2 (2012): 27+.