We recently shared new research revealing that the mere presence of political ads does not generally have a contaminating effect on brand messaging, even when aired right before brand ads.
However, questions remain on the most effective messaging strategies and creative executions during election season.
Advice from viewers: Staying mindful of current events and public sentiment is crucial, especially in sensitive times. In 2024:
- Humor, while effective, should be used carefully to avoid controversy.
- Brands can thrive by elevating our shared humanity and interests.
- Featuring employees can help humanize brands, especially in self-promotional messages.
- Brands addressing polarizing issues must align their stance with their image and history, anticipating potential backlash.
The rise of humor has been met with a rise in viewer sensitivity – making universal humor harder than ever to create.
As cited in our prior study, funny brand ads enjoyed the most positive response when following a political ad. Signs of brand reliance on the power of humor are evident in 2024. iSpot measured a significant 70% of Super Bowl LVIII ads employing levity, while the Cannes Lions festival added the category to this year’s awards.
However, humor is exceptionally nuanced and personal, leading to executional challenges for advertisers trying to appeal to a broad audience. How can brands be sure their ads fall on the right side of funny in changing times? iSpot Creative Assessment applies NLP models to the hundreds of thousands of viewer verbatim comments in our database to identify 57 distinct emotions. We classify every ‘funny’ ad into one of three categories that also profile varying levels of potential risk for the advertiser.
Current events and the country’s mood historically play a significant role in advertising’s impact—even humor.
Following the highly contentious 2016 election, Super Bowl advertisers leaned into riskier, polarizing humor at an unprecedented rate. However, as cancel culture began to heavily influence careers and sales, brands shifted toward “safe” humor in major advertising events over the ensuing years. The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and increasing social tensions since 2020 have driven brands to focus ever more on lighthearted advertising, with most retreating from polarizing content altogether.
Derived from our emotional measurement platform, iSpot also gauges the Cultural Perception of ads. Both positive (Empower) and negative (Exploit), these metrics reveal how current events and public sentiment are influencing consumer response to advertising.
In 2016, about 15% of ads—both before and after the election—evoked a sense of Empowerment. However, the level of Exploitative connotations rose post-election, as brands began to take bolder positions and address significant societal issues in their messaging (recall 84 Lumber’s “The Journey Begins”).
2020 brought a different response from brands, as the grim impact of the global pandemic led to messaging that not only entertained, but lifted up society.
By the time election season neared (and beyond), one in five brands were delivering Empowering messaging while risk-taking dropped. Over time the level of polarizing humor employed in Super Bowl messaging has fallen from a high of 45% in 2017 to just 9% in 2024. These Big Game trends serve as reliable indicators of how brands are ‘reading the room’ in response to current events.
Humor continues to trend “safe” while staying close to brand identity.
Over the three months ending August 31, 2024, 49% of all ads across industries have gone for laughs (more advertisers also took the opportunity to empower during the Paris Olympics).
Some of the funniest ads over this period employed visual humor, animals/CGI characters, and/or some anthropomorphizing while engaging with creative twists that were both humorous and linked to key attributes of the brand.
Funniest Ads: Three Months Ending August 31, 2024
| Product | Ad Title | Emo: Funny (0-10) | Ace Score (553) | Likeability Score (616) | Relevance Score (576) |
| Jack Link’s | Messin’ With Sasquatch: Bungee Jumping :30 | 8.3 | 625 | 709 | 627 |
| Chick-fil-a | Cows: Paint Run :30 | 7 | 635 | 693 | 650 |
| Nathan’s Famous | Talking to a Hot Dog :30 | 6.7 | 648 | 707 | 640 |
| Fruit By The Foot | One on One :15 | 5.9 | 672 | 716 | 701 |
| Pop Tarts | School Bus :15 | 5.4 | 625 | 701 | 639 |
| Popeyes | Best Food :30 | 5.3 | 657 | 703 | 671 |
| Old Trapper : Beef Jerky | Energy Emergency :30 | 5 | 632 | 677 | 651 |
| Little Caesars | Summer of HOT-N-READY: Live it Up :15 | 5 | 627 | 694 | 631 |
Americans are more concerned than ever that brands have a purpose but these convictions aren’t sparking consistent action.
We asked American viewers how important brand purpose was, with four in ten liking the idea as long as the position fit with the brand/product. Without this link, Exploit response sparks quickly. Still, about one in three feel that all brands should have a purpose. This is why pre-testing creative, whether humorous, informative, or purpose-led, is key to avoiding traps that can far too easily lead to PR nightmares and lost sales – and at times, lost customers for good.
In fact, despite a claim of supporting brand purpose by 73% of respondents, one in two did not hold such strong beliefs to have themselves boycotted a brand in the past year.
Empowerment is sparked by connecting to deeply human and universal sentiment, or philanthropy.
iSpot Creative Assessment data reveals a continuation of 2020 patterns over the past three months, with 23% of all ads sparking empowerment and just 13% feeling exploitative. Younger Americans were less likely to exhibit both reactions, with those 50 and older more likely to be affected.
Since June 1, 2024, the most empowering brand creatives avoided exploitative nuances. They are frequently inspired with universally meaningful themes featuring the process (athletic, educational, or simply life) as the crux of achievement (linked to Paris 2024 Olympic events). Philanthropic messaging landed well for Boeing and American Airlines while Vanguard and Thrivent featured customers leveraging opportunities to serve as role models.
Most Empowering Ads: Three Months Ending August 31, 2024
| Product | Ad Title | CP : Empower (0-6) | Ace Score (553) | Likeability Score (616) | Relevance Score (576) |
| Thrivent | (AUG) Follow Your Heart :30 | 5.6 | 543 | 623 | 613 |
| American Airlines & Stand Up to Cancer | Let’s Go Further Together :60 | 5.5 | 687 | 730 | 650 |
| Vanguard | (AUG) My Parents Worked Hard :30 | 5.5 | 589 | 662 | 709 |
| Delta | Going Somewhere :60 | 5.4 | 584 | 677 | 577 |
| Visa | Prodigies :60 | 5.3 | 654 | 714 | 659 |
| Xfinity | 2024 Paris Summer Olympics: At the Buzzer :60 | 5.2 | 617 | 727 | 561 |
| Southern New Hampshire University | Makes It Possible :30 | 5.1 | 569 | 634 | 608 |
| Boeing Image | Boys and Girls Club: Giving Back to Students :30 | 5.0 | 576 | 658 | 564 |
| Dick’s Sporting Goods | Olympics: Flips Rev :15 | 5.0 | 574 | 675 | 552 |
| Hyundai | It’s OK :60 | 5.0 | 566 | 651 | 624 |
The most Exploitative ads over the past three months revealed viewer concerns around the use of:
- Lowbrow humor
- The portrayal of women
- Topics such as pride, personal/intimate care, weight loss, and/or ads presenting one view of a polarizing issue.
Unifying messaging with divisive delivery is still risky.
While many brands feel strongly about a purpose closely linked to their product or service, the delivery can significantly impact how polarizing and effective the ad is.
In the recent “Political Noise,” the American EV Jobs Alliance urges Americans to look past the politicization of electric vehicles and focus on their vital role in the future of American industry. Firing both Empower and Exploit signal, the highly polarizing ad ranks in the 96th percentile on viewer disagreement.
Polarity Profile for “Political Noise” Cultural Perception of “Political Noise”
Viewers found the messaging on American jobs and EV manufacturing to be supportive, patriotic, and positive, with the ad itself also attention-getting and informative.
Presenting initially as a political campaign ad, the tactic grabbed Attention but ultimately turned some viewers away. Much of the spot’s negative sentiment expressed objections to the political, chaotic tone and/or a message that felt confusing to some.
Not every brand will be comfortable with this level of disagreement and emotional reaction (with 48% of all sentiment on the ad positive and 15% leaning negative). Regardless, it’s crucial for any brand to measure this reaction when deciding whether, and how, to take the risk of engaging with politically or socially charged topics in times of heightened sensitivity. Already this month, several new brand campaigns (such as Red Lobster and Johnsonville Sausage) have attempted to juxtapose their brand to scenes of political/cultural distress.
Whether taking a stand, using humor, or aiming for purpose, pre-testing creative is even more vital during election season to ensure authenticity and avoid costly missteps.
1 Pre- and post- periods were defined as the three months preceding and including election day, and the three months immediately following election day for each of the years cited. Samples of 2283-2800 ads in each period provide high stability in the data.
Methodology: iSpot conducted a second, nationwide, statistically balanced poll of over 31,000 American viewers aged 18+ from August 26 to August 30, 2024. Results were merged with proprietary ad effectiveness data before and after the past two election cycles (2016 and 2020), revealing how response to brand messaging and purpose are affected in political times.