As a radio advertising expert whose job is to teach radio advertising professionals how to write effective radio commercials, I run into lots of copywriters who want to write “funny commercials.”

The goal of a radio commercial never should be to “be funny.” It should be to sell.

But if you are going to write a funny commercial, here are 10 questions to ask before you begin.

1. Do you know for certain that it’s funny?

2. Do you know for certain that it’s funny the 10th time the audience hears it?

3. Is it actually funny the 50th time?

4. Does the comedy relate to a human need?

5. Does the commercial have its own internal logic? (Are the characters’ actions consistent within the story’s own reality?)

6. When listeners remember the comic storyline, will they remember the product/service being advertised?

7. Does the humor come from human behavior…or does it derive merely from jokes?

8. Do the performers treat their characters with respect….or do they throw off their lines without regard for believability?

9. Is there a “Key Moment” that encourages listeners to tune in to the commercial again and again?

10. Does the key moment come at the end of the radio commercial…or close to the end? (That’s where it should appear.)

11. Does it feature carbon copy situations and predictable characterizations?

12. Is there a “delightful surprise”?

13. Does it have comic tension?

14. Is there conflict to make the story interesting?

15. Does it rely on a catch phrase made popular by some other media message (e.g., commercial, print ad, movie, tv show)? (If so, it’s likely to reinforce the original media message, not your commercial message.)

16. Do your characters sound like actors, or do they sound like real people?

17. Do your characters listen and react to each other….or do they simply deliver their lines independently?

18. Is the humor consistent with the brand image the advertiser wants to promote?

19. Is the humor the result of production tricks or of human behavior? (Production tricks entertain production engineers, not listeners.)

20. Is the commercial’s one and only goal to “be funny”….or is it trying to sell the service or product?