Sell More with Self-Mockery

A Frenchman visiting New York City enters a McDonald’s restaurant in late afternoon. When he reaches the front of the long queue, he orders a glass of wine, knowing that the McDonald’s restaurants in his home country serve alcoholic beverages. The employee, having heard such a request before, replies, “Sir, in America, McDonald’s doesn’t include wine on the menu.” A look merging disappointment with puzzlement crosses the Frenchman’s face. “You mean, people come here for the hamburgers?”
     I’ve not heard of McDonald’s using that joke in their marketing campaigns. However, gentle humor can ease sales resistances, and self-mockery can humanize a brand in ways consumers find attractive. A study at IAE Paris explored this. Participants were exposed to a fictitious IKEA ad in which the brand made light of a consumer criticism the researchers had found to be common among IKEA shoppers.
     In some cases, the tag line read “Parce que nos meubles sont compliqués à monter, on ne s’est pas démonté pour les repenser,” which is French word play on “As the assembly of our furniture is complex, we did not back down from rethinking the situation.” Difficulty in assembling the furniture is considered to be a major dissatisfaction.
     In the other cases, the tag line read, “Parce que nos files d’attente sont trop longues, on ne s’est pas défilé pour les écourter,” word play on “As our waiting lines are too long, we did not run away from making them shorter.” This addressed what’s considered to be a less important dissatisfaction.
     For all, the text was followed by :), representing a smile. A companion study used complaints about McDonald’s—a strong complaint that the burgers are unhealthy and a weaker one that the burgers are too small.
     The overall finding from the studies was that self-mockery increases purchase intention, although only for a minor source of dissatisfaction and only for consumers who already have a strong brand attachment.

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