Why Every Sauce Brand Suddenly Thinks It's a Comedian
Have you noticed how condiment marketing has gone feral? Tomato sauce bottles are now cracking jokes. Hot sauce labels are spicy in more ways than one. And don't get me started on mayonnaise tubs doing stand-up routines in aisle three. Somewhere along the line, every pantry brand decided it was auditioning for the Comedy Festival.
Blame Deadpool, maybe. Or the collective trauma of 2020. Either way, humour has become the new authenticity, especially for household names trying to burrow inside our kitchen psyche. After all, if your mustard can make you laugh, maybe you’ll keep it around longer. But here's where it gets interesting. There’s actually a marketing arms race happening in the condiment aisle. Heinz vs Wattie’s. Kikkoman vs Lee Kum Kee. They’ve gone from brand battles to roast battles.
It’s not actually about being funny. It’s about shortcutting trust. A cheeky line on your label makes you feel like the brand is on your level. It nods, 'We get each other, mate.' But not all punchlines land. Some of these puns are so cooked they feel like they’ve been workshopped by a marketing team locked in a room with no air con. This reminds us of the golden rule: being funny on purpose is dangerous. Being funny with purpose? That’s interesting.
The real winners nail tone more than joke density. It’s that low-key confidence. A blank jar with one dumb line that makes you snort mid-scroll. Brands, take notes: your ketchup doesn’t need a tight five, just a personality with actual flavour. And maybe let go of the fake quirkiness. No one really believes the aioli is self-aware.
Blame Deadpool, maybe. Or the collective trauma of 2020. Either way, humour has become the new authenticity, especially for household names trying to burrow inside our kitchen psyche. After all, if your mustard can make you laugh, maybe you’ll keep it around longer. But here's where it gets interesting. There’s actually a marketing arms race happening in the condiment aisle. Heinz vs Wattie’s. Kikkoman vs Lee Kum Kee. They’ve gone from brand battles to roast battles.
It’s not actually about being funny. It’s about shortcutting trust. A cheeky line on your label makes you feel like the brand is on your level. It nods, 'We get each other, mate.' But not all punchlines land. Some of these puns are so cooked they feel like they’ve been workshopped by a marketing team locked in a room with no air con. This reminds us of the golden rule: being funny on purpose is dangerous. Being funny with purpose? That’s interesting.
The real winners nail tone more than joke density. It’s that low-key confidence. A blank jar with one dumb line that makes you snort mid-scroll. Brands, take notes: your ketchup doesn’t need a tight five, just a personality with actual flavour. And maybe let go of the fake quirkiness. No one really believes the aioli is self-aware.