humor - Publications - Faculty & Research

09 Feb 2018
Research & Ideas

Big Hits: The Best of the 2018 Super Bowl Ads

partisanship, and/or conscious neglect, as they presented their brands as heroic substitutes stepping in to provide services (e.g., clean water, cancer research funding) traditionally provided by nations, states, and/or NGOs. Click to watch. Still others such as Sprint... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty; Telecommunications

23 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Setting the Stage: A Young Scholar at HBS

opportunity to attend Professor Richard Tedlow's elective class, "The Coming of Managerial Capitalism." Anyone who has attended this class would, I think, agree that it is the kind of classroom experience that stays in your memory, not least because of... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Linard; Banking; Financial Services

15 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 15

report data from an experiment where subjects in a Willpower Treatment are asked to resist the temptation to join others in watching a humorous video for 10 minutes. In relation to a baseline treatment that does not require willpower, we... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

Uncompromising Leadership in Tough Times

generation of workers, just as it did after the Great Depression. Q: Maintaining a professional distance from work, a full life outside of work, and a sense of humor all helped the CEOs in your study. Could you discuss the inevitable... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

03 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

Marketing Your Way Through a Recession

times loom, we tend to retreat to our village. Look for cozy hearth-and-home family scenes in advertising to replace images of extreme sports, adventure, and rugged individualism. Zany humor and appeals on the basis of fear are out.... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

What It Takes to Restore Trust in Business

The crisis in American business has spawned tales of colorful characters who will surely live on in folk memory, quipped Harvard Business School professor D. Quinn Mills: the ignorant CEO; the creative accountants; the big-spending dot-com kid. Dark View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

10 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

The Legacy of Boaty McBoatface: Beware of Customers Who Vote

winner, an environmental activist. Despite the fact that the government thought the humorous name would be more popular, once again, an implicit contract had been broken, and outrage ensued. View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising

29 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Super Bowl Ads for Multitaskers

such as GoDaddy, for example, has been very successful using sex appeal and humor to create brand recognition. Now that the brand is well known, says Teixeira, it might benefit from a more direct call to consumers to purchase its... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising; Sports

04 May 2016
What Do You Think?

What Does Boaty McBoatface Tell Us About Brand Control on the Internet?

dodgy name is not always a major impediment to success.” Gretchen Kennedy commented, “Boaty McBoatface is the PERFECT name for bringing a little humor to a world that takes itself way too seriously.” Science Advocate added, “You can’t buy... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Advertising

11 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Sexual Harassment: What Employers Should Do Now

doors, with the belief that they can get away with it. Men supervising the trading floors of Wall Street overlooking raunchy locker room humor by adopting a boys-will-be-boys attitude. Changing that dynamic requires making sure an... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Rebuilding Commercial Real Estate

time MBAs pile into a field, it's a good contrarian indicator. Gallows humor aside, market pros see parallels, but no repeat of the 1989 crash. That optimism rests on the knowledge that the industry today bears little resemblance to the... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Construction; Real Estate

09 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

Come Fly with Me: A History of Airline Leadership

again that the nation's seventh largest airline had a lovable, zany sense of crowd-pleasing humor that came straight from the top. Although Kelleher's personality and fun-loving style certainly helped him to earn public relations points,... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Air Transportation

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