Advertising
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Advertising's identity crisis: Comedy agencies, meme metrics and the death of brand memory
As brands and agencies chase virality with meme-worthy campaigns and LinkedIn applause, industry leaders warn that marketing risks becoming theatre without recall - sparking noise but not loyalty.
Image: tim-mossholder via Unsplash
“Advertising is not theatre. If the audience remembers the drama but forgets the brand, the curtain has fallen on effectiveness.”
That sharp reminder from S. Subramanyeswar, Group CEO –India, Chief Strategy Officer - APAC & Global Chair -Strategy, MullenLowe Global, captures the essence of a growing unease in the ad world: Has advertising today become a race to shock, amuse, or trend online - while sacrificing brand building and recall?
In an era where attention is the scarcest commodity, marketers and agencies are increasingly leaning on what critics call “comedy agencies” - creating bite-sized, meme-ready content that may grab headlines but often fails to leave a lasting imprint of the brand.
The push for “viral genius” has led to an ecosystem where stunts are celebrated, budgets are burned, and metrics are inflated to justify short-lived wins.
The Rise of Comedy Agencies and the Cult of Virality
In 2025, advertising feels less like persuasion and more like performance art. Scroll through Instagram Reels or LinkedIn and chances are you’ll stumble upon a brand film that’s being hailed as “genius marketing” - not for what it sells, but for how cleverly it sparks conversation, fuels memes, or shocks audiences into sharing.
The phenomenon has even earned its own industry nickname: “comedy agencies”. These are shops, often staffed by young creatives and stand-up writers, that churn out punchline-heavy films, designed to be shared and memed. Their mandate? Break through the clutter by being louder, funnier, or more outrageous than the rest.
At one level, the approach works. Campaigns like CRED’s Rahul Dravid “Indiranagar ka gunda” spot or Moonshot’s Johnny Sins x Boldcare film were cultural events - endlessly shared, dissected, and memed.
But critics argue that such campaigns risk becoming punchlines detached from the brands that funded them.
Subramanyeswar notes, “Stunts spark shares, but memories spark loyalty. Shareability without memory is just noise.”
He points to IPL campaigns this year as a “masterclass in the difference between borrowed attention and owned memory.” Loud, flashy ads dominated the breaks, yet many fizzled before the match resumed. “Shock value buys the first. Substance secures the second,” he says.
Force-fitted shock value designed to spark a meme or controversy, and spread cheaply (freeloadingly called virality) on social media has become the driving agenda for many a brand today, he says, adding, "...in an overcooked or violently fragmented media environment attention is the scarcest resource, but it cannot be an excuse to dumb down content that is unreasonably provocative or needlessly purposeful."
The Metric Mirage: When Buzz Becomes the KPI
Part of the problem is measurement. Traditional advertising success was benchmarked against recall, persuasion, and sales uplift.
Today, marketers flaunt virality scores, meme counts, attention indices, and “cultural disruption” KPIs. On LinkedIn, such numbers often earn campaigns standing ovations.
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But Subramanyeswar is unsparing: “Applause within the fraternity isn’t the same as lasting connection with audiences. Many brands are carried away by vanity measures - likes, impressions, so-called earned media - but not whether the brand was remembered or preferred. That’s renting buzz without buying equity.”
Shivi Singh, Lead – Brand Solutions, D2C Channels at Pocket Aces, echoes the caution.
Attention as the only KPI is dangerous. Shareability should be the outcome, not the objective,” she says.
At Pocket Aces, which produces content for brands across YouTube and Instagram, Singh insists campaigns must deliver both audience love and brand love. “If a campaign doesn’t land on both, it isn’t sustainable - no matter how many headlines it makes.”
She cites Pocket Aces’ partnership with i-pill, where contraception was woven into everyday conversations between couples in their FilterCopy Micro Dramas. “The recall came not from gimmicks but from relatability. That’s what cuts through the noise: relevance, not volume.”
For founders, especially in the D2C ecosystem, trend-hopping can be tempting because digital media costs are low compared to traditional channels. But not every trend is worth the leap.
“The core role of marketers is to convey the message in the best way possible,” says Deep Bajaj, co-founder of Sirona Hygiene. “If a trend genuinely fits your brand and resonates with consumers, it adds value. If not, it’s just noise.”
“My advice: do it if it works for you and your customers, just don’t go by fads,” Bajaj cautions.
The Counterpoint: Shareability as Strategy
Yet, it would be simplistic to dismiss shareability as empty. Advocates argue that in an attention-fragmented economy, sparking conversation is the first step to salience.
“I’d push back on the idea that today’s advertising is driven by obnoxious content,” says Jackie J. Thakkar, creative director and stand-up comedian.
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“What some may dismiss as noise is often strategic disruption. In 2025, shareability isn’t optional - it’s central to brand storytelling. If your campaign isn’t sparking conversation, it risks being just another skippable pre-roll.”
Thakkar points to campaigns like Urban Company’s “Chhota Kaam” film - emotional storytelling that disrupted not with noise but with relatability - as proof that creativity and meaningfulness can coexist.
At the same time, he defends the viral CRED and Boldcare films as evidence that disruption, when well-crafted, builds long-term equity. “These weren’t one-offs. They evolved into series, generated repeat briefs, and cemented brand positioning,” he argues.
Every campaign sits within a broader marketing mix, so impact can’t be judged in isolation. What looks like “fleeting engagement” on LinkedIn might actually be doing the heavy lifting of brand awareness and consideration i.e the very top of the funnel, he adds.
Virality vs. Value: The Battle for Brand-Building
So where does this leave brands? The jury is divided.
On one side, strategists argue that campaigns built solely on stunts are “like fireworks = dazzling for a moment, then gone without a trace.” On the other, creatives insist that even fleeting buzz builds critical mindshare at the top of the funnel.
The truth likely lies in balance.
As Singh observes, meaningful disruption need not be loud. “Sharp human insight, relatable storytelling, or humour that makes audiences feel seen - these are just as powerful as shock value.”
For now, advertising remains both a joke and a jingle, both a punchline and a promise. The challenge, as Subramanyeswar puts it, is to ensure that in the roar of cultural disruption, the brand itself is not the one left unheard.
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