Maybe she just likes football!

While you’re busy thinking about the Roman Empire, we’re out there doing the real work…scouring the interwebs for the hottest humor-related trends your brand should be tracking. This week, we jump in our time machine to go back to 8^th grade…because that’s what this whole Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce vibe feels like. What does “hanging out” mean? Maybe he’s just in the friend zone. What if she just likes football? Whatevs, because we’re just sitting back watching the hilarious memes roll in. Also, what’s this new couple gonna be called? Swelce? Send your ideas to witandwisdom@peppercomm.com and, we’ll publish our favorite next week!

We’ll have chicken salad on rye, untoasted

We get these DMs all the time: “Ooof, I really don’t know how to use humor in my business. Stumped! Pls help me!!!” Well, since we live to serve…here’s a pro tip. Start with an idea you would never, ever really execute. We’re positive this is how Peet’s Coffee came up with their latest LOL marketing campaign…which is perf for National Coffee Day today! Someone must have said: “Let’s just give away our product.” Everyone laughed. Then someone else said: “Serious, how can we get people to come in for a free coffee?” And thus, was born the Peet’s Disloyalty Program! Sometimes all it takes is flipping the script on your business model (or life) to bust out with a breakthrough idea. (Confession: We learned it from “George Does the Opposite.”) You’re welcome!

Trade shows are back, and we are psyched!

Extroverts, are you ready? In-person meetings and tradeshows are back in a major way! So before you pack your bags for Titanium USA 2023 or the International Pool Spa Patio Expo, check out this advice from Jon Selig about how to use humor successfully at any trade show. We love his take on using humor to highlight a prospect’s pain point. At a trade show, it’s all about making yourself memorable amid all the other vendor booths filled with squishy balls and semi-pro magicians. But we do have to push back on you, Jon, when you say only two or three people out of 10 have a knack for doing this. Au contraire, mon frère! In our experience, almost anyone can learn the skills of using humor successfully in a business setting. We should know! Every one of our staff is trained in the principles of standup comedy and improv. It’s not that hard!

Yes and…check out these tips from our Laughing Matters Council on how the power of improv can help enhance collaboration.