To PUN or Not to Pun…
Is it really a question? If you’ve followed Paper Plane content for long, you know we personally cannot resist a well constructed pun, BUT with great puns, comes great responsibility.
⚠️Puntastic Preface: If your company or organization promotes serious subject matter, it’s usually best to avoid the use of a pun. While a well-placed pun can liven up an email, greeting, text, or caption - if you associate with subjects considered potentially heavy, we’re going to ask you to sit this pun-practice out. Taking a swing at it may prove to be a foul, and could achieve the OPPOSITE outcome. Words are powerful, and unfortunately adding humor into serious subjects can be off-putting, distasteful, and could sour potential business. We’re benching you for the pun-game, but you’re still an all-star in our books, champ. ;)
Now, if you provide a product or service open to lighthearted moments - PROCEED!
Rules for Punning:
🌦️Sprinkle, Don’t Shower. The baseball puns used in the preface above were a good example of a middle ground. It was intentional, and laid on thick (because of the subject matter), but timing is everything. Breaking the puns up with non-punny sentences is a great way to sprinkle them. Let the wit speak for itself, overuse can adversely effect the goal of subtle entertainment.
🍇Fruit Basket Delivery. Low-hanging fruit should NOT be missed, friends. If you sell sports equipment and DON’T utilize the various sporting events in headlines you’re simply not delivering. Reason number one: Your audience expects it! So, legal professionals - drop that jargon! What, like it’s hard? Tax professionals - get freaky in the spreadsheets! Use the easy ones to your advantage to entertain, and be warned: if you don’t a seasoned professional like a dad could sweep in and do it FOR you. ;)
🧠Get Smart. I personally love an intellectual pun - the ones that are easy to miss. As an English fan, I grappled a bit with which ‘foul’ to use in the afore mentioned preface. Should I use the verb to foul: make dirty, or make it more obvious by stating the noun a foul: a miss, infringement, OR go with the adjective foul: unpleasant, offensive? This is an example of an intellectual pun, using the multiple meanings for words - all potentially befitting the content you are expressing like foul did for my baseball-pun-filled preface.
Does this help?! If so, share! Let’s spread the word and a little joy with our proper pun practices (ya girl loves alliteration too, what can I say.)
Incoming Shameless Plug: If you’re in doubt or still a little unsure about charging onward with your newfound pun knowledge, it’s always safe to OUTSOURCE it to a professional you can trust to know you, your brand, and your intended message. Together with Paper Plane, we can create the message you want to share, and let it fly!