A Comparison Between Chinese And American TV Commercials Regarding Humor

The author intends to find out the reasons why both the quantity and quality of humorous TV commercials are so limited in China at present. Through detailed analyses and comparisons between Chinese and American TV commercials, the author attempts to give some ideas on the importance and methods in creating effective humorous TV commercials.There are many schools of theories concerning humor. Traditionally, three major humor theories dominate:1. The superiority theory, which comes into play when people laugh at jokes that focus on someone else's mistakes, stupidity or misfortunes.2. The incongruity theory, which suggests that humor arises when logic and familiarity are replaced by things that do not normally go together.3. The relief theory, which suggests that the central element in humor is neither a feeling of superiority nor the awareness of incongruity, but the feeling of relief that comes from the removal of restraint.Thanks to the fast economic development, China can now boast of its more than 500 TV stations that support over 3000 channels. At the same time, TV commercials start to clutter up time intervals among TV programs and bomb audiences with numerous advertisements. However, most of China's TV commercials at present seem to cling to the doctrine of "Hard Sell". Thus they fail to entertain the viewers to let them enjoy light-hearted humor.The author is fortunate enough to have a year of practice in a well-established local advertising agency ?Armstrong International Corporate Identity Co., Ltd. Armstrong offered him a full and real picture of the situation about the practice of TV commercial production and also a great opportunity to appreciate plenty of brilliant foreign TV commercials, especially those of the US. The sharp cultural contrast between respective TV commercials drives him to seek the causes at the bottom. As a result, a major cause was found to be the use of humor in TV commercials.Limitations that lead to the lack of humor in Chinese TV commercials and key factors that contribute to the success of humorous advertisements in the US will be analyzed at length.The author of this paper humbly hopes his study can generate some fruitful ideas and attention regarding the creative humorous TV commercials. The author hopes to change the public viewers' negative impression toward Chinese TV commercials in this respect.