Using Humor In Your Postcards And Brochures

Laughter, despite everything said to the contrary, is still the best medicine. This is why humor works so well in print marketing campaigns - both in regular advertising and direct mail formats. Intelligent, well-crafted humor, after all, is an art form. Using it well can paint your business in a sophisticated and insightful light.

Direct response marketing material, for one, is laden with boring, typical and uninspired work. Taking a step away from the same old offerings to deliver a laugh with your own promotional campaigns will easily let you stand out from the crowd.

What kind of humor typically works well for postcards and brochures?

1. Unlikely Contrasts

Promotional tools that contrast two conflicting concepts can make for a well-done humorous campaign. For instance, the picture of a completely decked-out goth rocker cross-stitching a butterfly pattern can make for a humorous contrast, possibly enough to convince people to try out your cross-stitch supplies store.

2. Self-Deprecating Humor

While most businesses will try to convince customers they're the best people for the job, you can set your advertising apart by pointing out a product's flaws instead. For instance, when promoting your vegan restaurant in Calgary with a flyer, you can feature made-up degrading statements from non-vegetarians who think your food is not fit for human consumption. With thousands of vegan jokes currently circulating, you shouldn't run out of one-liners to include.

3. Self-Aggrandizing Humor

Taking the opposite road from the second type of humor, self-aggrandizing humor makes downright fantastic claims. Borrowing largely from exaggerations many businesses use to advertise themselves, self-aggrandizing promotional campaigns take it a step further into a full-blown parody. The thousands of Chuck Norris one-liners strewn all over hip shirts and internet forums probably demonstrate this type of humor best!