Andrew Sherman, Founder and CCO at BUTTER Music and Sound, explains how music is an important ingredient in most comedy spots and that, while you might laugh at the end result – in fact, hopefully you do – creating it is a serious business.

Side view open head illustration with music symbols

Why is the Super Bowl the ‘Oscars of Advertising’? We all know the answer: viewers like the funny ads! Sure, spectacular, heart-wrenching commercials also play during the big game, but the spots that top the USA Today Ad Meter tend to be of the comedy genre.

This year’s winner was the State Farm Like A Good Neighbaaa, ad starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which I was very lucky to work on with the BUTTER team and our talented composer Nat Jenkins.

Comedy campaigns have serious brand value that (up until this year) have gone undervalued in the ad awards circuit, but are also worth participating in from a creative standpoint.

Comedy music in advertising has been the biggest reason for my creative success and is definitely my personal sweet spot. It’s not easy – you have to take it seriously, it’s scary to do, and you can easily blow it. It also takes a village, where you surround yourself with amazing talent. Furthermore, the not-so-secret to great comedy ads is still the creative. Even though we’re talking about the music, it’s seldom the main focus. But it can be responsible for a third, or up to a half of the impact of the commercial. I do believe that in this business, in particular, people often consider it too late in the process. It’s always time to talk music!

Regarding my approach, I will make every effort to be involved as early as possible and try to elevate the creative that extra 10-30 percent, and earn my right to be a part of it. I love working on a great pitch and, even if it becomes an unchosen campaign, I love to help push that rock up that hill. There is no greater fun than to be sitting in a room with some great creatives and making three or four different versions of the same spot in real time. Time and proximity (and pandemics) often don’t allow for in-person moments like these, but when they do, magic can happen.

It’s always important to ask; what if we did this? What is the least expected thing? What serves the moment best? We love this… now what’s the opposite? Leave room in your process to be surprised. Also, understand that the first idea may be the best one.

It is no secret that comedy can come from a dark place. Someone (or something) hilarious lives in that creepy overgrown mansion on the hill but you just have to make friends with it, and score the moment correctly. Often, that can mean taking it deadly seriously.

A 2022 Oracle study showed that a staggering 91% of customers preferred what they deemed ‘funny’ brands, especially among Millennials and Gen Z. As well, 90% of people remembered ads more easily when they were funny. Working on a comedy ad isn’t just fun; it’s business-building. Sure, the brand stands out, but as a creative partner, by extension your work on the ad also stands out.

Where does music matter? In tandem with great writing and acting, music amplifies and elevates the humour to exaggerated heights that make it all the funnier. In Like A Good Neighbaaa, the music swelled with each attempt to match the morale-boosting anthem of a dramatic film, but stopped playing entirely when the director had to call “Cut”, over and over again, which dramatised the joke even more by taking it seriously.

Another great example of the stop-and-go musical approach that makes jokes land that much better can be heard in the other Ad Meter-winning comedy ad for BMW, Talkin’ Like Walken. The sleek car commercial track thrums in the background and builds to a breaking point, only to cut out entirely when the first… creative Christopher Walken impression lands. The music goes on to match each environment and tone change, transforming the ad from a Bond-esque car commercial to the tongue-in-cheek spot it wanted to be all along.

Remember that comedy ads are proven more memorable, and a huge component of their longevity relies on the music. What’s an earworm, after all, but a song that gets stuck in your head? Great advertising music and sonic branding use the same qualities to keep you humming that McDonald’s jingle. I don’t even have to share it, since we all know what it is already.

These don’t have to be original compositions. A music company responsible for sync can also know which track, be it from an artist, film or show, can set the tone for a campaign. Star Wars’ Imperial March earned a fresh role in the now iconic VW Super Bowl ad The Force, where it followed a mini-Darth Vader tapping into his powers around the house. Here, the track was an obvious choice, sure, but it didn’t just play throughout. The music diminished at the pivotal moment where the star’s attempts finally ‘worked’ on his dad’s VW, telling audiences, hey, the important part is about to happen.

I could write a much longer article dissecting how music informs and transforms hundreds of comedy spots, but the crucial point is that comedy as art relies so much on timing, just like music. The backtrack sets the pace of an ad arguably more than the on-screen action, and can make the already-impactful comedy spot that much more fulfilling for brands and their eager audiences.

With entities like Cannes Lions beginning to take note of humour campaigns, I suspect that, over the next few years, we will see a rise in comedic ads that highlight the continuing importance of music within them.

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