Hot Dog Condiment Analogy

According to Tubbs, an analogy can be used to explain a complex idea in a concise way. If the audience member does not understand the why a hot dog needs ketchup and mustard, they can compare a hot dog’s need for condiments to a dog’s need for a human and draw parallels between the two. Therefore, this ad effectively uses an analogy to persuade the target audience by helping them understand why hot dogs need condiments. The use of this analogy also creates a humorous situation. To see the dogs dressed in hot dog costumes and grown adults dressed in condiment costumes is amusing. To make it even more amusing, the commercial uses a pun. The ad shows a group of wiener dogs dressed in hot dog costumes. What makes this a pun is that hot dogs are also known
A study was done to investigate the relationship between humor and message recall and brand attitude, as well as the effect of repetition and social setting on perceived humor (Zhong & Zinkham, 1991). Researchers conducted an experiment where they showed two ads for soft drinks. Half of the participants were exposed to a humorous ad; the other half were exposed to a non-humorous ad. Participants were also exposed to the ads a different number of time with different sized audience. They were then asked to complete a questionnaire, where participants were asked about their attitude towards the brand, perceived humor, and ad recall. They found that humorous ad had a positive effect on message recall. Furthermore, the repetition of exposure to the ads did not affect the perceived humor of the ad. However, the audience size did influence perceived humor. Scores for perceived humor increased when the audience consisted of more than one person. This means that advertisements are typically found more funny when watched with multiple