ABSTRACT
The focus of this chapter is on a particular aspect of the relationship between humour and organization, namely the deliberate production of humour by organizations through advertising. Our aim is to study humour in advertising and through doing so to investigate what it tells us about humour, organizations and the social context of advertising/consumption. Specifi cally, we are interested in explaining the nature and increasing use of humour during the period that has come to be known as late capitalism. While no data are readily available to allow a quantitative, historical comparison, Beard (2005) provides a recent and insightful account of the emergence of humour within advertising. Also, the anecdotal evidence suggests that the number of ‘humorous’ advertisements has increased over the last 20 years, to the point where humorous appeals are now endemic in advertising and television advertising in particular (Tomkovick et al. 2001). This is corroborated by Weinberger (1999), who has studied advertising humour extensively over the last 20 years.
