Humor in Marketing: The Importance of Authentic + Consistent Messaging

Explore why humor does and doesn’t work for some brands, and learn how to find your authentic voice that truly connects with your audience. 

Where did the humor come from?

Why humor is difficult to nail for some brands

Finding your authentic voice + reframing your messaging

In 2025, there’s one consistent type of messaging we see across many brands and industries: humor. It’s apparent in commercials, on social media, in email promotions, and even the conventions for naming products and services. For many brands, this is a way to reach and relate to their audience, but for some, the seeming “need” to be funny can be a huge pressure. 

Here, we’re breaking down why humor works for some and discussing the importance of authenticity in your brand’s voice and tone.

Where did the humor come from?

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment when marketing strategies shifted to be more humorous. Many commercials have taken a funny approach for years, with prime examples like Budweiser’s “Singing Frogs” Super Bowl ad from 1995, where three frogs croak out “Bud,” “Weis,” and “Er” in a pattern that sounds out “Budweiser.” 

But, this was also a unique and special ad for its time. Nowadays, it seems that every post you see from brands on social media is trying to appeal to its viewers with jokes or memes, playing on recent events and phenomena to show relevance.

Take Taylor Swift’s recent release of “The Life of a Showgirl” as an example—several brands posted spoofs of the album’s cover art, adding their products in place of Taylor’s photo. This concept spanned industries, with companies like FedEx, United Airlines, and Crumbl Cookie including themselves in the excitement of the album announcement.

When it comes to humor on social media, Wendy’s is the prime example. Since 2013, Wendy’s has used X (formerly known as Twitter) to banter with both lovers and haters of the fast food chain, as well as competitors and celebrities. One popular example was a reply to a tweet from McDonald’s from 2018, which read “Today we’ve announced that by mid-2018, all Quarter Pounder burgers at the majority of our restaurants will be cooked with fresh beef.” Within just a few hours, Wendy’s replied “@McDonalds So you’ll still use frozen beef in MOST of your burgers in ALL of your restaurants? Asking for a friend.” 

Not only does this reply cleverly poke fun at a competing chain, it plays on humor to connect with Wendy’s target audience while implying that the restaurant would never have frozen meat. Responses like these encouraged people to follow Wendy’s to see what they would reply to next, as well as post these tweets themselves to incite a reply. The fast food restaurant’s responses take a snarky but funny tone, a pioneer for many following social media strategies.

Another great example of brand humor is Liquid Death. The name alone makes you do a double take, and the brand’s slogan “Murder Your Thirst,” takes a tone you don’t often see for flavored water brands. Additionally, one of the brand’s values is sustainability, sharing this passion with the catch phrase “Death to Plastic” across campaigns. Liquid Death’s messaging choices are extremely different from its competitors, helping it stand out as an innovator in the marketplace while reaching its target audience and turning them into customers and even brand evangelists.

Liquid Death is also a pro at consistency across marketing channels. A commercial in this year’s Super Bowl, for example, shows people in a variety of professions “drinking on the job,” chugging Liquid Death while at work. Of course Liquid Death is safe to drink at work, as a flavored water, but many people perceive it as alcohol. The brand used this common misconception to create a funny advertising campaign, incorporating its humorous voice and tone while solving a problem.

This voice and tone isn’t lost on other marketing platforms, though. Taking a look at Liquid Death’s Instagram page, you’ll see funny reels, trendy memes, and partnerships with influencers and popular figures. A post from April features a photo of a pregnant Kylie Kelce next to a mini-keg of Liquid Death and holding a mug of the flavored water in her hand. 

The post also features a screenshot from a social media comment, which reads: “I find the name of the product just horrible and seeing pregnant women drinking it (even if it’s just water) even more horrible. Pay attention to words, they all have energy…” Liquid Death’s caption on the post brilliantly shares “Almost everyone is loving our new Liquid Death Mountain Water Mini-Kegs we released with [Kylie Kelce]!” Similar to Wendy’s familiar online banter, Liquid Death used its fantastic partnership and clever tone to address a hate comment and further promote its product. 

These are just two examples of brands that are using humor successfully to reach their target demographic. That said, a voice and tone that incorporates hilarity might not be the right approach for your brand. 

Why humor is difficult to nail for some brands

While humor can be a powerful tool for connection, it also can be a risky approach in brand communication. Before diving into a comedy-first strategy, consider these challenges that make humor particularly difficult to execute well:

• Humor is subjective: what’s funny to one demographic may fall flat for another.
• Timing and context matter: a joke that works in one moment could be tone deaf during others.
• Consistent creative energy is a must: it’s essential to create a strategy around this humorous voice, not just one-off posts that don’t match the rest of your messaging.
• Humor can often overshadow the actual message of your content.

As you take a look at your brand and analyze its voice, tone, and messaging strategies, the most important facet is authenticity. If humor doesn’t feel like it fits your brand, it’s often not worth it to try to relate to your audience in that way. But luckily, there are several other ways to find your authentic voice.

Finding your authentic voice + reframing your messaging

Whether or not humor is right for your brand, it’s important to have a genuine, consistent messaging strategy across platforms. Here are a few of our tips: 

• Survey your audience: ask your target demographic what words they would use to describe your brand, products, and services, and align your voice and tone to match your customers’ perceptions, desires, and needs. 
• Research competitors: see how your competitors share consistent messaging across platforms, and take note of ways you can implement comparable strategies.
• Get your sayings and slogans in order: make sure your slogans and sayings are the same every time to not draw confusion toward your brand.
• Audit your existing content across channels to identify disconnects and inconsistencies. 
• Create a brand voice and tone guide to establish clear guidelines across your team.

The pressure to keep up with trending humor and viral moments can feel overwhelming, but the most successful brands are the ones who truly understand and speak to their audience. Whether you're crafting witty comebacks like Wendy's or taking a more straightforward approach, what matters most is that your messaging feels genuine and aligns with who you are as a brand. Your audience can tell when you're forcing a personality that doesn't fit, so focus on developing a voice that reflects your values, resonates with your customers, and can be sustained over time.

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