A raging debate has been burning up the bits and bytes on a popular copywriting forum: Should humor be included in sales copy?

Some forum members argue that humor can be a disarming and refreshing alternative to the caveman approach to copywriting—i.e., bludgeoning the reader into shock and submission with exclamation points. Drop the hard sell and take a more friendly and convivial approach, they say. Be sociable, be charming, be funny!

Makes sense. In this economy, in this political environment, who doesn't need a good laugh?

Others go further and suggest that sales copy must have personality. And right they are. But methinks they may be confusing personality with humor. Having a personality doesn't automatically equate to being funny.

Advertising greats David Ogilvy, John Caples, and Claude Hopkins each had distinctive personalities and imbued their sales copy with plenty of the same, but I don't think anyone would accuse them or their copy of being funny.

Then comes this refrain from other forum posters: Sales letters all sound the same these days. And they go on to cite letters that open with an over-the-top benefit, an unbelievable offer, or a rags-to-riches, failure-to-hero story.

They make a valid point. The marketer, via the copywriter, must differentiate himself—and his product. But do you do that by making 'em laugh? Here's the problem...

Laughter is serious business

How many times have you gone to a comedy club, or watched a late-night or primetime comedian fall flat on his face after delivering a punch line? Humor is an art form that's extremely difficult to master.

It takes years of developing and practicing timing, rhythm, and phrasing. And even then, when the curtain finally goes up, there's no guarantee you'll make 'em laugh.

So, if you're planning on using humor in your sales copy, at least answer the following question first...

What makes you think you're funny?
 
Maybe in person, at the dinner table, at the bar, or in the locker room... yes, you're funny. And maybe you've penned something—in a blog post, article, or a spec script you've mailed to Columbia Pictures—that struck a few funny bones once, twice, or thrice.

But funny in a sales letter, hmm? Recognize that the first and foremost goal of a sales letter is... to make a sale!

So, using all the necessary elements required for salesmanship in print, you develop a rhythm, a voice, a tone—a slippery slope—that keeps the reader interested and excited, scrolling or flipping through pages. That will ultimately bring your reader to the letter's real punch line: the submit button, or the BRC (the business response card in a direct mail promotion).

Now, what do you think will happen to the momentum you've labored so artfully to create if, all of a sudden, you slip in a joke, a bit of humor, that's totally out of character? The bubble will burst!

Having worked so hard to suspend "critical disbelief," you abruptly downshift into a Conan O'Brien or Larry the Cable Guy riff, leaving your reader in stunned disbelief and confusion, "Where the heck did that come from?"