It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say 2020 feels apocalyptic. Playing to the collective mood, Oreo has built a doomsday vault to protect its cookies from the end of the world, and the brand’s mockumentary is providing consumers a dose of light relief in a period of immense uncertainty.

There’s not been much to joke about in 2020, with a pandemic, protests against inequality, and a tense political atmosphere leaving many people anxious. But humour is a powerful coping mechanism, one that creates moments of collective calm. So, how can brands get people laughing again?

As the world goes into quarantine, people are mass-downloading video-streaming app TikTok. While Gen Zers have felt relegated to the sidelines of society’s economic decisions, young content creators are taking to TikTok to poke fun at a Boomer-run system under stress.

Many brands recognise that evoking laughter is a sure-fire way to get people’s attention – but that’s easier said than done. Canvas8 spoke to Caleb Warren, a marketing professor at the University of Arizona, to learn about the difficulties of using humour in ads and how this impacts brand loyalty.