Insights

Humor and Social Media: Brands That Made It Work

Social media is the Wild West of marketing. Brands try a thousand different tactics to engage with their customers, earn a follow, and build loyalty. If they can gain new customers in the process, all the better. While every brand tries a different hook, be it promotions, giveaways, discounts, or contests, some brands opt for approaches that include inspirational quotes, testimonials, and even a sense of humor.

The thing is, when it comes to comedy, not everyone is good at it. Remember when Beyonce gave a shout out to Red Lobster in her song “Formation”? We all waited to see just how Red Lobster’s social team would respond. Well, let’s just say Red Lobster needs to stick to Cheddar Bay biscuits, not telling jokes. Some brands, however, understand the art of humor and are able to take it to a whole new level. Here are some of our favorite humor-focused brands on social media.

Wendy’s

If you’ve somehow made it into a marketing role and you haven’t heard of Wendy’s Twitter, you need to head over there right now. The social media manager has a field day posting hilarious content and even created their own national holiday: Wendy’s Roast Day. On this special holiday, Wendy’s Twitter absolutely decimates both customers and brands with hilarious burns that keep the internet laughing.

While Wendy’s certainly still does its promotional material, it is always with an edge that keeps people paying attention. Just remember, if you plan on tagging Wendy’s in anything, be sure not to suggest there’s a better fast food burger out there, or you’ll end up in their crosshairs.

Charmin

When your product is toilet paper, it makes sense that you have to have a decent sense of humor. With Charmin, their pun game is pretty unmatched, but they also post funny tweets we can all relate to. It’s a smart strategy and relatable, all while advertising the products they sell.

Skittles

Skittles is just plain funny, but it’s definitely an acquired taste of humor. It ranges from your standard funny jokes to downright out-there humor that need a few levels of translation before you can laugh. Here’s what we mean:

This year, Skittles ran a hilarious campaign centered around bringing back an old flavor anyone millennial or older will remember: Lime. They took a page from Wendy’s playbook and hosted a roast of the green apple flavor and proceeded to tweet a whole host of funny content centered around the swap. Definitely worth a follow for the funny (but also because green apple was literally the worst.)

ASOS

UK-based fashion brand ASOS manages to be hilarious and on-brand with jokes about all things fashion, clothing, and accessory related.  Even their bio is on point, reading “Your bank account knows who we are.” While their main feed is loaded with hilarious inspo, their Tweets & Replies tab is where the social media team is doing the hard work, connecting with customers who have had issues with their accounts and orders, or who are just sharing their latest haul. ASOS is a master class in how to do social media right—keep the content engaging while building authenticity and brand loyalty.

PooPourri

We’re back in the bathroom with our number 2 (see what we did there?) toilet-centric brand, PooPourri. PooPourri has built an entire brand around being cheeky, evidenced by their hilarious TV ads and their follow-worthy social media presence. Not only are they posting their own hilarious content:

They’re also replying to tweets from customers, brands, and just general internet lurkers:

PooPourri may be a product designed to help people avoid bathroom-related embarrassment, but they certainly don’t shy away from making fun of the things we all can relate to when it comes to the most visited room in the house.

Boost Engagement by Being Funny

For the social media teams that can pull it off, humor is an excellent way to build a following and develop an entrypoint for your brand. Whether you’re interested in blowing these five brands out of the comedy waters, or you just want to develop a digital marketing strategy that keeps customers coming back for more, we’d love to hear your ideas.

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