Ideas to Ponder – May 2026 Edition

An inside look at our latest explorations and undertakings.

If humor is so effective, why are brands moving away from it? One explanation is risk—fear of missing the mark, offending someone, or simply not being funny. But that only explains the hesitation, not the outcome. Because humor doesn’t just require courage—it requires something to push against. A sharp point of view gives humor its edge. It creates the tension, the small violation of expectation that makes something land. Without it, brands tend to default to safer, flatter work. Not because they don’t understand humor—but because they’re avoiding what can make it effective. This article on comedy in marketing focuses on the gap and gets some experts to weigh in.

According to this article about the importance of comedy by DK Badenhorst, comedy happens when something disrupts how we think the world should work, but does it in a way that still feels safe. That disruption—the violation—is doing most of the work. And that’s where a pointed point of view comes in. Without one, there’s nothing to disrupt. No expectation to break. No line to cross. Just jokes that sit comfortably inside what everyone already agrees on.