An issue of much concern to advertisers is the problem of commercial wearout, or the tendency of a message to lose its effectiveness when it is seen repeatedly. Wearout may occur for several reasons. One is inattention; consumers may no longer attend to an ad after several exposures, so the message loses its effectiveness. Another reason is that consumers may become annoyed at seeing an ad many times. While wearout is a problem for any type of commercial, some advertising experts argue that humorous ads wear out much sooner than other formats because once the viewer gets the joke, the ad becomes boring. However, advocates of humor argue that ads filled with yuks are effective longer because consumers can tolerate a well-executed humorous commercial again and again.

So who is right? Well, a study conducted by Research Systems Corp. concludes that neither view is correct. Humorous ads wear out at the same rate as other types of ads, whether the commercials include comparative messages, celebrity spokespeople, or other approaches. According to the study, the average ad’s effectiveness wears out within eight weeks. Not everyone agrees with this study. Another research firm, Video Storyboard Tests, claims that humorous ads lose their effectiveness faster than other ads. Says the company’s president, “The first time the ad is funny, the second time the ad is acceptable, and the third time it is a bore.”

While individual humorous ads may get old fast, advertisers often get around this problem by using humorous campaigns consisting of many different commercials. For example, the Little Caesar’s pizza chain, FedEx, Energizer batteries, Pepsi, and Anheuser- Busch (Budweiser and Bud Light beer) have made effective use of humor by constantly developing new commercials and working them into the ad rotation. One media consultant argues that it’s quite simple to determine if a humorous spot or campaign is wearing out. “If the viewers laugh with you, you can be in it for the long haul. It’s when they laugh at you that you’re in trouble.”