Commercials today have become more extreme, whether it be in their humor, content or strangeness. People might wonder why this increase in outrageousness has happened; it’s simply because the more absurd the commercial, typically the more memorable it is. And all marketing agencies want consumers to remember their product.
An article posted to rhythmagency.com talks about a study done that examines the new age of commercials, and it finds that shocking commercials are certainly more memorable to the audience.
According to rhythmagency.com,“In the same study, it was found that aside from evoking surprise, absurd ads, especially those of a humorous nature, are great at engaging consumers and evoking brand recall. It was also discovered that this absurdity improves message comprehension, making these ad types more persuasive and memorable.”
However, while these types of shocking advertisements cause the consumer to remember them, sometimes it’s for the wrong reasons.
Jemora Haywood (11) has seen advertisements that are pure silliness and finds this marketing strategy to be annoying.
“These types of commercials do not make me want to buy the product because I wouldn’t know if I would get what I paid for. I don’t think they should create them, but they need to promote their business. A few commercials that I have seen do this would be Temu and TikTok,” Haywood said.
Having a commercial focused only on being funny or surprising can sometimes negatively affect the audience, as shown with consumers like Haywood. It is also possible for commercials to be too clever or too odd so that the audience only remembers the funny parts of the commercial and pays no attention to the product they’re trying to sell.
Samijay Huff (9) agrees that the outrageousness of advertisements nowadays can be over the top, but can’t deny – the strategy works.
“I think the marketing strategy is a bit extra, but it happens to work every time making kids and adults want to buy the product. I think there should be more of these commercials but less extremeness in the commercials,” Huff said.
It has been proven in a study done by Johana Kool from Tilburg University that absurdity and humor are distinct techniques for attracting attention. These absurd advertisements draw attention because of their ridiculousness or because the silliness evokes humorous responses.
Ben Schafer (9) also thinks that ridiculous commercials do work even if they are senseless.
“I think that sometimes these marketing strategies do work even if the commercial is dumb. I don’t really like the silliness of the commercials but a cool commercial can get me to buy the product even if I don’t want it,” Schafer said.
