Questions To Ask BEFORE You Begin Writing A Funny Radio Commercial

As a radio advertising expert whose job is to teach radio advertising professionals how to write effective radio commercials, I run into lots of copywriters who want to write “funny commercials.”

 

The goal of a radio commercial never should be to “be funny.” It should be to cause the targeted listener to act on the sales message.

 

But if you are going to write a funny commercial, here are 10 questions to ask before you begin.

 

1. Is it really funny?

 

2. Is it really funny when listeners hear it 10 times?

 

3. Is it actually funny the 25th time?

 

4. Does the comedy relate to a human need?

 

5. Does the commercial have its own internal logic? (Are the characters’ actions consistent within the story’s own reality?)

 

6. When listeners remember the comedy, will they remember the sales message?

 

7. Is the humor an outgrowth of real human behavior…or does it exist only to deliver a punch line?

 

8. Do the performers treat their characters with respect….or do they throw off their lines without regard for believability?

 

9. Is there a “Key Moment” that repeat listeners can look forward to?

 

10. Does the key moment come at the end of the radio commercial…or close to the end? (That is where it belongs.)

 

11. Does it rely on cliches and stereotypes?

 

12. Does the story have a “delightful surprise”?

 

13. Is there genuine comic tension?

 

14. Does the story have conflict?

 

15. Does it rely on some other media message’s catch phrase.g., film, TV show, print advertisement, commercial? (If so, it’s likely to reinforce the original media message, not your commercial message.)

 

16. Do your characters sound like “radio voices” or do they sound real?

 

17. Do your characters interact with each other, or do they just recite their lines….or do they just wait for the chance to deliver their lines?

 

18. Is the advertiser’s brand image reflected in the humor?

 

19. Does the humor come from true human behavior or merely from radio production tricks? (Some producers love production tricks, even when there’s no reason to use them.)

 

20. Is the commercial’s one and only goal to “be funny”….or is it attempting to get the listener to take a specific action?

Tags: radio advertising, radio advertising expert, radio advertising guru, radio commercials

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 at 12:35 pm and is filed under General Interest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.