What’s funny in an ad?
Humor in advertising is not easily subjected to scientific analysis. But researchers Yih Hwai Lee and Elison Ai Ching Lim reported in the Journal of Advertising (Summer, 2008) that there are, in fact, some aspects of humorous advertising that can be tested. They studied what they termed "incongruity-resolution" (e.g., Geico’s cavemen in a restaurant ad) and arousal-safety humor (e.g., Big Foot threatening tourists for beer in a national park ad). These forms of humor create an ambiguous situation that creates a certain amount of viewer discomfort that needs a resolution for the ads to be funny and favorably received. Ambiguity creates discomfort that requires resolution to be funny. Viewers in more "group-oriented cultures" responded most favorably to this resolution.
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