Business and brand puns: how to attract consumers with humor

Everyone loves a good pun.

There is nothing better than making your audience and consumer instantly smile, or even laugh, just by hearing or seeing your business name. It’s an instant icebreaker and lets the consumer know that you are a down-to-earth and approachable business.

However, we realize that not everyone feels the same way about the idea of ​​turning a business or brand name into a play on words. They may not work for everyone, and instead of attracting a consumer, they may turn him off altogether. Also, there’s the potential to cause confusion in terms of different cultures and translations – if you want to appeal to a more international market, it’s probably best to stay away from a branded pun.

However, most odds for business and brand puns are pretty unfair. Many companies are thriving on business puns, and it makes some companies reputable based solely on their name. So if you don’t believe in the power and allure of puns, we hope to bring you our appreciation after reading this!

Free Promotion!

The promotion, reputation, and publicity that comes from simply having a business name pun is undeniable, as well as ridiculously underrated.

When your business has a fun (or funny!) name, people will definitely take pictures and share those pictures with their friends. Today, that image is sure to end up online, on social media and possibly in a trending list article on epic puns UK.

Since all business goals revolve around gaining a reputation and getting your business known, this is definitely one way to go. This is a free promotion; You just have to make sure that your phone number and business information is closely related to the pun on your company name. For every person who clicks on that picture of your company name pun, there will be someone looking for what you do who will take note of your number.

However, to get promotion and publicity for your pun name, you don’t have to wait and depend on others to bring attention to your business. For example, it can be a point of sale for a promotion or competition on social networks. You can offer incentives for everyone who takes a picture with your funny sign, or use it as a way to encourage other puns or funny business names in another campaign.

make it memorable

Perhaps the most important and valuable fact about using a clever pun as a business name is that it is sure to be memorable. A play on words makes everyone smile, laugh, or even groan (in a good way!), and this humor helps people remember. Be careful though, as one of the worst things you can do for your business is to choose a name that is misspelled in some way, even if it’s been adjusted to fit a pun.

For example, you might remember an optometrist named “OptimEyes,” but would you necessarily remember how to spell it? It wouldn’t be harmful as a store, to get attention on the street, however if people tried to google the name, they might be looking for a lot of wrong spellings.

Alternatively, spelling and having to explain your company names are always obstacles to naming your company or brand. Even if you name your company with a simple and relatively normal name, you will be asked about your choice. At least if you’re explaining a meaningless business name, there’s a story behind your decision. It’s easier to explain “OptimEyes – eyes like we specialize in!”, rather than explain how you came up with “Eyesify” and how to spell exactly that, or worse.

Aside from spelling, one of the main advantages of a name with puns, rather than a made-up or simple name, is that there will be a story that people will enjoy hearing and will certainly remember. The more fun and unique the pun and the story behind it: the better! Plus, even if there’s no story other than “rhymes/made us laugh,” your name will still be much more memorable as a play on words.

multiple meanings

One useful advantage of using puns in your business name, or even tagline, is that you can be pretty clever with them. You can use your business pun to mean many different things and add different facets to your business and what you provide.

Of course, this is not possible for all puns, but there are some gems that you can get away with having multiple meanings that can be attached to your brand in a positive way. For example, there’s a cheesecake (and we literally mean cake, made of cheese) vendor, who primarily supplies loads of cheese for weddings and special occasions, called C’est Cheese.

This is a great example of a pun with multiple layers of meaning that can be attributed to the provider in a positive way. First of all, their name is cleverly chosen in French, which literally means “it’s cheese”, which is true, but they also play into the fact that they’re being cheesy in our British associations of the word. In addition, they are playing on the fact that the French line rhymes with “say cheese”, as well as playing on the well-known French term “c’est chic”, which means “has style”. There are so many positive associations with the name, as well as the fact that you will remember it, which makes it a perfect pun.

Also, even if the meanings are easy to understand, a pun will usually add an extra layer of meaning for your business. For example, we discovered a tile-laying business simply called Bonnie Tiler. This is a perfect example of an easy pun that makes you smile with its simplicity. Of course, he plays off the famous singer Bonnie Tyler, while adding the added facet that the business is bonny tilers (bonny or bonnie as attractive and happy), which is an association he would like to be known for as a business.

In general, we believe that these positive aspects and advantages of word games far outweigh any negative associations. Of course, puns on trademarks and trade names tend to work best for smaller businesses, mainly at the national level. However, there are many examples of larger brands using puns in slogans or advertising slogans, rather than permanently sticking to their name.

Also, some are so subtle that you may not even notice them at first: for example, Absolut vodka is famous for its advertising campaign that revolves around its name, such as “Absolut magic”. This is smart, as you don’t notice it at first, but they are using your name to describe their product and add positive attributes to it, easily playing on “Absolute/absolute”.

Therefore, no one can deny that puns are effective and a good way to market your business or product. There is an acknowledgment that puns are corny and exist in a clever, ironic and self-aware comedic form as business and brand puns often do. So what’s not to like?