Social Media Marketing as Comic Relief

We get a lot of questions about social media strategy… Should I do it? When should I do it? How should I do it?

Over the last couple of years, brands are becoming more and more interactive with their consumers. But before we dive into this, I want to emphasize: this social media tactic only works for the few. But when done right, it leads to crazy amounts of engagement and impressions. If you’re looking to get a bit more interaction from your followers on social media, create content that your followers can’t help but share. Whether it is interesting, impactful, or just downright funny like these brands.

If you aren’t a fan of Twitter, let me provide some insight on this social media beast. Aside from news, political arguments, and celebrity gossip, Twitter can be a platform where dreams go to die. Dramatic, I know. Everyone is in an existential crisis and isn’t afraid to show it. It is a place for dark and just downright weird humor, which happens to be my favorite. (RIP to the favorite button am I right my Twitter OG’s?)

Anyway, a few brands have been using this to their anxiety-driven persona to their benefit. As a result, their content receives an unprecedented amount of interactions entirely based on the fact people can’t believe this is a brand talking. Let me show you what I mean.

First up we have MoonPie, the original marshmallow sandwich if you didn’t know (I sure didn’t). Their tweets are so out-there sometimes I feel a moral responsibility to check in on the social media manager. Take a look at some of my favorites.

Logically-speaking, these tweets make little to no sense. From a brand aspect, they present the marshmallow cookie as an object of comedy, and it is well done. Just look at the engagement. Upwards of 2,000 people chose to retweet these tweets onto their personal pages just because it made them laugh. MoonPie is one of my favorite Twitter accounts and I have never even had the pleasure of trying one. Although now that I am a fan of the brand, I probably will make my move in the near future.

For comparison take a look at America’s favorite cookie, Oreo. Most of their tweets are product focused and feel more like an ad, and the engagement reflects that.

Next up, we have Denny’s. Home of the Grand Slam Breakfast! They were one of the first brands to adopt this strategy and in my opinion, they are a master. Here’s some tweets that made me LOL. (I’m sorry I said LOL :/ )

Denny’s uses a similar bizarre-dry-humor voice. The interesting point here is that they don’t even mention the restaurant in most of their tweets. A majority of their content just vaguely mentions a product whether it is pancakes, tater tots, or eggs. Regardless, engagement is still rockin’ and rollin’.

I admit, I am probably biased towards weird humor, but compared to IHOP the results don’t lie. IHOP is trying to put on a humorous personality, but they are missing a critical step. They are still pushing their restaurant and nowadays people are just so sick of advertisements! They want something different.

Times are a-changing as they (all of the Bob Dylans) say. Social media has evolved the advertising space, and using dark weird humor on the right platform can be successful for the right company. Brands can connect with their audiences on a personal level now more than ever. How can your brand present itself as “likeable” connection without over-emphasizing the “BUY NOW” vendetta? Don’t know the answer? Connect with us. We can help you get there.