Are puns always bad? I like them as cheat codes for making boring things slightly more entertaining. I don’t want to spend hours thinking for a line for a social post we are just doing to fill up a content calendar

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Puns make writing social copy and other mindless low-level assignments way more fun. Puns r gr8.

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If it works in one sense and not the other, then it’s cheap. If if it works on 2 or 3 levels that make sense in context, it’s smart.

likesmart

100%.

Cheap puns are worthless to me, but a good pun that ties two distinct ideas together is gold, imo.

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For advertising? Almost always bad. Wordplay isn’t an idea, nor a truth. A good headline, like a good joke, has a truth. If it includes a pun, fine, but a pun by itself screams “cheap.”

Friendly reminder — you get paid to spend hours writing lines. It’s what’s expected of you.

If you need to come up with a lot of lines in a short amount of time, first write them all straight. All true, insightful observations and feelings tied to the brand. Then go back and remove half of the line, tell your AD to find a pic of what that half represents. Take the remaining half of the line and tweak it so it becomes the punchline to the image. Repeat this for the rest of your content calendar. Once you get more practice, you can do it with speed and consistency.

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@CD1 reading your description it sounds like a great guide to making amazing print, but it’s 2021 my dude/gal. And there’s just simply no time to putting that amount of effort into a single post. I agree with a lot of what you’re saying about human truth and insight. But the point was about using puns to fill in the holes and makes boring stuff better. And before you question my credibility I’ve worked at Wieden and Apple to which .com I’d point you, it’s mostly puns and they’re not terrible.

likesmart

A man made 10 puns, hoping at least one would make people laugh. No pun in ten did.

(Stolen from a post here a few months ago)

likefunnysmart

🤢

likefunny

Puns r fukin amazing

likeupliftingfunny

All the CDs bashing puns on here just ignoring the latest Geico campaign.

upliftinglikefunny

Dig me some puns but Geico ads suck.

Not an answer to your question, but if you're just writing stuff to fill up a content calendar, try pitching a different social approach to the client so that you can make work that will do the job but also be creatively fulfilling.

funnylikesmart

LMAO

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A good pun is incredible.

likeuplifting

Puntastic. Time and place for sure but for social? How else would you not blow your brains out? Even some of the greatest print ads had puns. But yeah for long form print you better back up the puns with some hot ass copy or it’s just gonna be seen as a weak pun for pun’s sake. And that’s no pun for anyone.

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Everyone appreciates a gouda pun. But if you only manage to deliver 2/3 of a pun — P.U.

helpfulfunny

I live for puns.

likeuplifting

One thing about advertising is there are no absolutes.

helpful

🧐🤔🧐

I think puns are fun in the right setting. Copy that goes on a menu or a napkin at a fast food chain or on a JetBlue flight gives some personality and let’s you know they don’t take themselves to seriously.

As a OOH ad or a print ad—probably not the best headline.

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I’d think twice about committing a pun to an outdoor board, but for a one-and done post that’s here today, gone tamale, I think it’s fine as a simple little hook. Context.

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Lol I say go for it. We’re literally just making ads here.

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I won’t hire a book with puns!

smart

I feel it’s an all or nothing thing. It has to be so stupid, you can’t argue with it.I have one in my book from ad school and it’s been pointed out by a few people, that it’s their favorite.

Plus, it works if you’re Old Spice.

A great pun is good and everything else belongs in the drafts

If you don’t really care about the project and are not going to put it in your book, go with a pun. Don’t waste time or creative energy.

I think you answered your own question when you said you use puns when you don’t want to spend hours thinking of something good.

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