At a critical point in the modestly entertaining movie, Gung Ho, the Japanese auto chief turns to his subordinate Michael Keaton and says “I like you, you make me laugh”. That line has always stuck with me. This morning on the way to work I heard a portion of David Sedaris’ Santaland Diaries on WNYC. I may be the last person in the world to have heard this since he recorded it 14 years ago, but I was laughing so hard tears were streaming down my face. Sedaris chronicles his adventures as a droll elf at Macy’s during the holiday season. When asked by “Santa Santa” to sing Oh Holy Night for one of the brattier kids, Sedaris’ elects to perform the song as if he was Billie Holiday (needless to say Santa Santa stops him before he gets to the second verse). In a later scene when a mother of a tantrum-throwing kid asks Sedaris to tell her son that if he doesn’t behave Santa will only bring him coal, Sedaris tells the child that Santa will come to his house and steal all his electrical appliance including his TV, refrigerator and telephone leaving the whole family without light, food or power for months. The mother is not amused. I was. Sedaris put the silliness of the season in one wonderful, laughter-filled bundle of satire.
Humor is an important part of Marketing for Good. Laughter is a gift that keeps on giving. Laughter is life affirming. Laughter lightens the load. And laughter sells. In today’s Wall St. Journal the first entry on their Best of 2006 was the viral effort by Career Builder.com called Monk-e-mail. According to the WSJ:
Eleven months later, the monkey emails are still circulating. So far, CareerBuilder says, more than 80 million monkey emails have been played. The site’s traffic rose 34% this year, due in part to the email campaign. CareerBuilder says one of the most important results of its Super Bowl viral push was that it held the interest of consumers, most of whom spent six to nine minutes playing with the make-your-own monkey emails.
So, as you earnestly wrap and distribute presents this holiday season, don’t forget to share a laugh with your family and friends. A little ho ho ho can go a long way.
Cheers,
Drew