Yucking it Up – The New Definition of Funny!

Everyone realizes that there are differences between the sexes, but now American Greetings has found some specific distinctions in terms of what men and women find funny. According to a recent consumer research effort conducted by the greeting card company, men and women differ greatly in how they use humor to communicate. The company’s in-depth consumer research found that in general, men like to laugh at others while women are more comfortable laughing with others. The research findings also revealed that a majority of women prefer to laugh at material based in reality, especially when it focuses on the ordinary situations they encounter at work, at home and with friends. By comparison, men tend to be more competitive. Just as they play to win when it comes to sports, they want to be funnier than the next guy when it comes to communicating their sense of humor. Rochelle Lulow, Senior Program Director of Humorous Cards at American Greetings, and Pat Sandy Program Director of Humorous Card Planning at American Greetings discuss the research findings as well as factors that go into creating funny cards such as: Gender and lifestyle differences – how to create humorous cards for men and women Humor education – how to stay on top of humor trends Creative influences – where to go to keep ahead of the humor curve, Practice makes perfect – what cards have not made it into the stores and why More about Rochelle Lulow: Rochelle Lulow knowingly admits that few things are more difficult than writing a truly funny greeting card . The veteran writer and editor is currently Senior Program Director of Humorous Cards at American Greetings, where she has been crafting greeting card messages for 24 years. More about Pat Sandy: As a 24-year veteran artist and writer, Pat Sandy has gotten to see first hand how the social definition of what’s funny has changed over the years, and how it continues to evolve every day. Sandy, the Program Director of Humorous Card Planning at American Greetings, brought his extensive experience to an in-depth consumer research project recently completed at the card company to learn more regarding what is funny today.