Management Practice Insights
DOI: 10.59571/mpi.v4i2.11
Year: 2026, Volume: 4, Issue: 2, Pages: 141-146
Original Article
Kapil Khandeparkari* , Amol Dhaigudei
iS.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research
*Corresponding author
Email: [email protected]
Received Date:31 March 2025, Accepted Date:09 September 2026, Published Date:30 September 2026
Is teasing or mocking always negative? Maybe not. If a brand teases, mocks, or derides its audience, will consumers always take it negatively? Not if it is a part of a play, using dramatic exaggeration and closeness of people, says Research by Demi Oba, Holly S Howe, and Gavan J Fitzsimons.1 The research shows that leveraging teasing as a way of outreach humanises the brand in the customers’ minds. It analyses teasing in terms of prosocial and antisocial dimensions. Prosocial joking pokes fun at social norms in minor ways. People tend to participate more when they feel close and feel like they can play. Antisocial teasing employs greater threats that may alienate the target audience. The insight offers a roadmap to chief marketing officers, communications specialists and brand managers on how teasing can enhance brand engagement. A key to using the roadmap is to carefully consider the social and psychological aspects of the teasing
1 Relationships by Making Fun of Their Consumers’, Journal of Consumer Research 52, no. 1 (2025): 70–92, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucae051.
2 Rod A. Martin et al., ‘Individual Differences in Uses of Humor and Their Relation to Psychological Well-Being: Development of the Humor Styles Questionnaire’, Journal of Research in Personality 37, no. 1 (2003): 48–75, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092- 6566(02)00534-2.
3 Justin Thorne, ‘How Wendy’s Revolutionized Corporate Social Media Accounts’, Better Marketing, 2 December 2020, https://medium.com/better-marketing/how-wendysrevolutionized- corporate-social-media-accounts-6d4aec739f37.
4 Caleb Warren, Adam Barsky, A Peter Mcgraw, ‘Humor, Comedy, and Consumer Behavior’, Journal of Consumer Research Volume 45, Issue 3, 6 March 2018, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucy015.
5 LibreTexts, Wendy’s Social Media Success with the ‘Roast’ Campaign, 7 December 2024, https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Courses/Southern_Illinois_Unive rsity_Edwardsville/Social_Media_for_Public_Relations/04%3A_ Social_Media_for_PR_Case_Studies/4.03%3A_Case_study_We ndys_social_media_success_with_the_Roast_campaign.
6 Anonymous, ‘Indians Forbidden on Own Soil!’, Hindustan Times, 17 December 2009, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/indians-forbidden-onown- soil/story-SWWDEfib1kvana19f931iI.html.
7 Ben FowlkesUncrowned2 min read, ‘TKO Reports $1.59 Billion in 2026 Q1 Revenue, with WWE and UFC Both Seeing Huge Increases’, Yahoo Sports, 6 May 2026, https://sports.yahoo.com/mma/article/tko-reports-159-billionin- 2026-q1-revenue-with-wwe-and-ufc-both-seeing-hugeincreases- 213949404.html.
8 WWE NEWS, Wrestlemania® 42 Takes Over Las Vegas With More Than 106k Attendees & One Of The Highest-grossing Events In WWE® History, 22 April 2026, https://corporate.wwe.com/about/news/2026/04-22-2026.
9 Brenna Houck, ‘9 of the Weirdest Things KFC Has Done to Sell Chicken’, Eater, 12 December 2016, https://www.eater.com/2016/12/12/13920134/kfc-nashvillehot- record-fred-armisen. Demi Oba et al., ‘Brand Teasing: How Brands Build Strong
10 IKEA, May 2026, https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/campaigns/themeatball- lollipop-only-at-ikea-this-summer-pub4bcc3610/.
11 Geoff Fripp, ‘Burger King’s Whopper Detour Case Study’, Great Ideas for Teaching Marketing, 6 July 2025, https://www.greatideasforteachingmarketing.com/whopperdetour- case-study/.
12 ADSTRA DIGITAL, ‘Ryanair’s Unconventional Marketing Strategy Succeeds with Humor’, LinkedIn, 26 May 2026, https://www.linkedin.com/posts/adstradigital_brandingmarketingstrategy- socialmediamarketing-activity- 7472243533542752258-oTMq.
13 Viral BhelPuri, Akshay Kumar as Yamraj in Policybaazar.Com New Ad, 2018, 00:54, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGlUa7XnLKI.
14 Grewal Levy Marketing News, ‘Laughing at Potential Tragedy: How Geico Reinvented Advertising for the Insurance Industry’, Grewal Levy Marketing News, 2 November 2017, https://grewallevymarketing.com/2017/11/02/laughing-atpotential- tragedy-how-geico-reinvented-advertising-for-theinsurance- industry/.
15 Todd Bishop, ‘Full Text: Slack Offers “Friendly Advice” to Microsoft in Full-Page New York Times Ad’, GeekWire, 2 November 2016, https://www.geekwire.com/2016/full-text-slack-offersfriendly- advice-microsoft-full-page-new-york-times-ad/.
16 Sarah Jones, ‘Online Retailer Revolve Donates $20,000 to Charity after Being Accused of Fat-Shaming’, The Independent, 13 September 2018, https://www.independent.co.uk/lifestyle/ fashion/revolve-sweatshirt-fat-shaming-lena-dunhamonline- trolls-a8535756.html.
17 Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, ‘Women Belong In The Kitchen’: Burger King’s International Women’s Day Tweet Goes Down In Flames, 9 March 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2021/03 /09/women-belong-in-the-kitchen-burger-kings-internationalwomens- day-tweet-goes-up-in-flames/. Ikea, ‘IKEA x Chupa Chups - The Meatball-Flavoured Lollipop’,
© 2026 Published by SPJIMR. This is an open-access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Subscribe now for latest articles and news.
