Why Some Jokes Sell and Others Just Get a Laugh

Why do some funny posts help build a business while others just get a chuckle and vanish?

Depth. A pun is funny and forgettable, because once you get it there is nothing underneath. A joke that sells is funny and does something more: it makes the reader feel understood, which quietly builds the know, like and trust that leads to a sale. Same laugh, completely different result.

Two jokes, one crucial difference

Imagine a train company posts a meme: "When you realise you forgot your headphones," over a picture of someone despairing. On the surface, it is just light-hearted fun about a shared misery.

Now compare a pun the same brand could post: "Even the toughest train engineer needs a brake to let off some steam." Arguably just as funny. So they are equally good, right? Not even close.

Why the pun sells nothing

Here is the problem with the pun. Once you get it, you are done. It is a clever play on words with nothing sitting beneath it.

It builds no connection and no desire for anything. The only business a pun like that helps is one selling pun-writing to brands that do not want new customers.

What the meme is really saying

Look at the headphones meme again. On the surface it says, "we know how annoying it is to forget your headphones." But underneath, it is saying something far more powerful:

"You can trust us, because we understand exactly how you want to experience this. And even when it is something we cannot control, we hear you." It never says "trust us". It does not even imply it. It just makes you feel it, and a feeling is all you need.

The know, like, trust engine

People buy on emotion, and above all on the emotions of know, like and trust. A joke that sells quietly ticks all three at once.

Seeing the post is know. Finding it funny is like. Feeling understood is trust. A pun stops at the laugh. A joke that sells keeps going, doing real sales work while looking like nothing more than a bit of fun.

Meet Brian

Writing jokes with that hidden second layer, the ones that build trust rather than just raise a smile, is exactly what Brian, our AI Comedy Marketing Machine, is built to do.

Brian helps you find the relatable truth beneath the joke and craft posts that make your audience feel understood, using the same frameworks our writers use, so your content sells while it entertains.

Take Brian for a spin and write jokes that do more than get a laugh.