Now there's another in the same vein polluting the airwaves, this time from Speed Services Courier and extolling the virtues of their Counter-to-Counter service. In this one a group of guys is, presumably, sitting around and discussing the "C-to-C" service..."Oh, you mean Atlantic to Indian?" asks one dumbo. "No" replies someone else, "that would be ocean-to-ocean." This continues for a few seconds, wasting valuable "benefit time", until a quick announcer-type character gets a few miserable seconds to squeeze in a benefit or two. Not too much of that though, we don't want to spoil the flow of the "idea" now, do we? To which I would ask, "what idea?" Well, wait for it...here it comes (drum roll, please, maestro).
The "funny man" of the group now chirps up: "C-to-C. I wonder if they do china-to-china!!!?" I don't usually make use of exclamation marks to this extent, but I've used them here to illustrate the point. The "joker", and, by extension, the copywriter, thinks this is the funniest joke he's ever cracked - and maybe it is, poor fellow - and makes sure we all think so by laughing hysterically at his own "joke". Hey dude, IT'S JUST NOT FUNNY!
Point is, if you want someone to change their behaviour, in this case switch to another courier company, you'd better give them a pretty darn good reason for doing so, not try and win them with stupid, inane attempts at humour. Very few copywriters can write good humour. If you can't, your best solution is just to stick to the facts. You may think the facts are boring, but to someone looking to switch couriers, for instance, the facts may be diabolically interesting. Oh sorry, I forgot, you never researched the facts beyond what the bare-bones brief said. Shame on you.
