Issue 90: A Bulletin for Big Ideas and Better Business

Join us for the next launch of Creativity for Growth – an eight-part course led by Sir John Hegarty that explores how creativity drives business, builds brands, and fuels growth.

Across the sessions, Sir John is joined by the likes of Paul Smith, Anya Hindmarch, Mike Cessario (Liquid Death), and Greg Hoffman (ex-Nike), all offering a candid look at how creative thinking shaped their success.

📅 Bookings close 27th October.
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OPINION/ Humour

2 Pilchards and a Perch

💬 Sir John Hegarty

It’s no secret that one of the most valuable tools we have in communication is humour. When done well, it is memorable and can be deeply persuasive. 

But for some reason, humour is regularly treated with suspicion in relation to global campaigns. “It doesn’t travel,” they say. “What’s funny here won’t be funny over there.” I’ve heard this countless times, and each time I think: you’re missing the point.

Because humour does travel. You just need to understand what it is you’re actually exporting: The humour, or the idea.

Humour does travel.

There’s a story I reference to prove the point. Michael Palin, of Monty Python fame, was once filming in Venezuela. His crew were stopped by armed guards who didn’t believe they were making a travel documentary. The situation escalated. Weapons were raised and threats were made.

To convince the guards they were no threat, Palin got them to watch the fish-slapping sketch he’d done with John Cleese. A ridiculous little performance involving two fish and a very short dance. The guards watched it, laughed and subsequently let them go.

They were saved by two pilchards and a perch!

Now, nobody would argue that Monty Python’s humour is designed to save lives. But what that moment proves is that real, truthful laughter cuts through. Even when the language doesn’t, the culture doesn’t, and even when the stakes are high.

The secret? The silliness and refusal to take yourself too seriously are fundamental human truths. And like all the best truths, they’re borderless.

James Vincent put it well: “Ideas are mostly translatable if they hit at the core of the human condition.” And humour, when done right, does exactly that. It sidesteps logic, leaps over cultural nuance and taps into something universal.

Ideas are mostly translatable if they hit at the core of the human condition.

The entertainment industry exports its humour globally all the time, with great success. Barbie, The Hangover franchise, these aren’t just successful because they’re funny. They’re successful because they start with a shared human experience. That’s what people are laughing at, the recognition of that experience.

And this applies just as much to advertising. At its best, our job is to connect. To seduce, not to stalk. And humour, when it’s rooted in truth, is one of the most seductive tools we have. It creates a bond and invites people to participate.

So when someone tells you that humour doesn’t translate, ask them this: are you trying to export a joke, or an idea?

Because the idea is what travels. And occasionally, it might just save your life.