When using humor or sarcasm in your marketing, consider the risks.

When using humor or sarcasm in your marketing, consider the risks.

Last week as our friends in Alabama were falling victim to historically damaging weather, a huge online retailer sent out an email newsletter to their marketing list with the title “Mother Nature Hates You. Deal with It.”  I don’t know the backstory – whether their phone rang off the hook with angry customers – or if their PR people were just putting out a potential fire but soon thereafter another email arrived with the subject “An Apology for Yesterday’s Email”.

Here are the first two paragraphs of the email:

“We messed up. …we neglected to put a stop to the distribution of an email with the header: “Mother Nature hates you. Deal with it.” This was extremely insensitive and offensive, and we are so sorry.

Please accept our sincerest apologies for this mistake. What was intended to be witty marketing copy may have been when we wrote these words two weeks ago, but in light of current events and the suffering of people affected by Mother Nature’s wrath, it is not only not witty, it is completely unacceptable.”

It was refreshing to see a large business not use spin – and how could they really? But it was also a painful reminder that any time you use humor or sarcasm to make your point, you risk offending, or at the very least, not properly communicating with a potential client. Although our culture is rife with snarkiness and irony, and it can be entertaining, you must ask yourself if it has a place in your marketing. There is a fine line between showing “personality” in your work and being unprofessional.

I’m giving a presentation soon and because I loathe boring PowerPoint sessions, I want to use humorous photos to keep it entertaining and lively. I’ve mulled it over so much: “Will it come off as unprofessional or condescending. , “Will they appreciate seeing something different, a unique way of presenting dry material.” I don’t know the audience that well so I can’t make a sound decision, but, if I do go with what I think is “funny” I’m prepared to risk some negative comments – they are either going to love or hate it.

Consider the risks and make sure you can live with them.