At the 2023 Cannes Lions festival, my creative partner and I watched in envy as the Film Grand Prix was awarded to Apple’s Inline text link example’ – a simple, funny ad.   While humour was making a comeback in advertising, as health creatives, we recognised that our side of the industry might not fully embrace it.  A Kantar studyreveals that only 21% of medical ads and 11% of public information ads feature humour, falling behind sectors like establishments, retail, services and food and drink.

These numbers are not surprising – humour and health don’t always go hand in hand.  At its best, health marketing can change health legislation, educate millions, and improve patients’ lives. Purpose is in its DNA.   But with this responsibility comes a rigorous approval process involving legal, medical, regulatory, and sometimes even ministerial review.   To bring humour into this world is to convince every stakeholder to believe in the work. So let’s start by gathering evidence and looking at a few successful case studies.  The humour effect – humour helps us remember.  Education is a crucial part of health advertising, given the need to inform the public about various diseases, symptoms and best practices.   The good news is that we all have a cognitive bias called the humour effect that makes us remember funny information better, and according to a research study by Oracle, 90% of consumers are more likely to remember a funny ad.  The British Heart Foundation and Vinnie Jones famously used humour to teach people hands-only CPR. To date, 30 lives have been directly saved by people who saw the campaign and remembered the technique.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O92KL1mw77c  The Scottish Government, with the help of Elaine C. Smith, used traditional Scottish humour to teach people about the symptoms of breast cancer, leading to 50% more women seeing their GP with symptoms.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxQdfB-no50  Humour is good for business.  Humorous ads, when done well, outperform all other ads. According to System 1, humour not only surpasses rational ads in long-term effectiveness, but also beats other emotional approaches.  The positive impact continues into commercial success. Studies reveal that about 80% of people would buy again from a brand that uses humour, and 63% would spend more with such a brand. Here are two humorous health ads that have won awards for creative effectiveness.  In this absurd but effective campaign, which increased sales by 25%, CeraVe plants a conspiracy theory that their cream is developed by celebrity Michael Cera, rather than dermatologists.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVrUDqYfRUM In Andrew Mackenzie’s 2017 Cannes Lions talk ‘Selling humour in health’, he points out how this humorous health insurance campaign helped UnitedHealthcare reach unprecedented levels of awareness, trust, brand impression and memorability.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5lZIj1xVB4 If this still hasn’t convinced you yet, maybe the cost of dull will. Marketing consultant Peter Field suggests that a dull campaign would cost you millions more a year to match the performance of an entertaining campaign. Perhaps using humour isn’t such a big risk after all. Patients and HCPs are people too – humour helps you connect with your audience.  Most humorous ads are derived from genuine and funny insights. Ever felt awkward opening up about sexual health? Ever overreacted to a minor illness? When a brand taps into these behavioural truths, it demonstrates a down-to-earth understanding of what it’s like to be human. This authenticity is invaluable in building trust with your audience, whether they’re patients or healthcare professionals.   Visionworks' cheeky ad demonstrates that they understand the only way to get people to take an eye exam is to force it upon them.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqwrzdr3pJs  While this brilliant ad by the Wyoming Department of Health taps into how we often take today’s health advancements for granted.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN_xklc5qy4  A dose of humour benefits everyone, especially those of us working in health communications. In our experience, funny scripts have lit up many meetings, brightening our clients’ days. If working on humour brings us so much joy, shouldn’t we use it more often?  If you’re a health marketer aiming to incorporate humour, disease awareness campaigns are a natural starting point. However, campaigns aimed at healthcare professionals remain untapped. Who will be the first to take the plunge?  Intrigued by the power of humour in health communications?   Dive deeper with A Healthy Dose of Humour podcast. Hear expert insights from neuroscientists, patients, comedians, and advertisers as they explore the potential of humour in health.