Humour in advertising

1. Take a look at the three videos (Snickers, Broadband China and Broadband Everywhere) from the larger resource Visual Humour. These ads feature everyday situations that have humorous results. The advertisers hope that the humour will create a rapport with the viewer which will encourage people to buy the product or service.

2. Put the heading Humour in advertising on a new page in your OneNote notebook. Copy this table (.doc 31kB) into OneNote and complete it.

3. Think about your favourite ads that use humour. Make a list of them and write a brief description of the ad and give reasons why it appeals to you. If possible, add a suitable image.

The ABC’s The Gruen Transfer website has more ads to look at, as well as information about the advertising industry from ad industry experts, the campaigns they have worked on and the agencies they represent.

Collaborate with one or more of your classmates to create a humorous video advertisement.

To prepare, you will need to:

• decide whether you will advertise a real product or service or create your own

• write the script in Microsoft Word

• create a storyboard in Word

• choose the people to play the various characters in the ad

• assemble costumes and props for the shoot

• choose one or more locations to film the ad

Use the laptop webcam or a video camera (USB/SD card/Memory stick) to shoot footage for your advertisement.

Using Adobe Premiere Elements you can import and edit videos, video clips, graphics and audio files from a variety of sources. You can import and edit:

• video clips you have shot with a video camera or camcorder

• video clips from the internet

• images and video from a mobile phone

• photographs from the laptop webcam, a digital still camera, the internet or scanned graphics

• audio files such as music and sound effects from the internet and other programs on your laptop.