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Abstract： This report will make an elaborate comparison of humor between a Chinese humorous commercial and some American humorous commercials. The report will give a concise description of an M&M’s Chinese commercial first. Then， the report will put emphasis on comparing the Chinese one with several commercials center on their similarities and differences of humor. The similarities will be divided into two parts， the characters and artistic presentations the commercials use； and the incongruity theory they apply. The differences will also be categorized into two parts， the cultural differences in individualism， collectivism and uncertainty avoidance that cause different humorous ways of advert. Finally， the conclusion part will summarize the whole report.
Keywords：TV commercials， humorous commercials， humor in advertisement
摘 要：本論文将进行对中国幽默广告和美国幽默广告中的幽默元素进行详细的对比分析。首先这篇论文将会介绍M&M’s 巧克力中国区的广告，然后将对此广告和其他类似的幽默广告在相似性和不同点上进行对比。相似性将会分为两部分来介绍，一方面包括广告角色和艺术表现形式，另一方面是广告所使用的不一致理论。不同点也将从文化差异分析，包括个人主义和集体主义还有不确定性规避。最后，总结部分将会对文章进行一个简短的概括。
关键词：电视广告；幽默广告；广告中的幽默；
文章编号：1674-3520（2015）-05-00-02
1.Description of the Advert
Name： M&M’s Red Bean’s Adventure TV commercial.
Region： Mainland China.
Plot： Two large-sized chocolate beans are having a party with three people. They are playing “Truth or Adventure”. The red bean is chosen to take an Adventure. Then， a female friend asks the red bean with her finger touching on the bean’s belly “Do you dare to strip naked？” Suddenly， the red bean jumps on the table， strips its red candy shell （clothes）， and dances happily. However， people find that inside the red bean is chocolate， because the red bean is naked. They become really greedy and bite the red bean. Finally， the red bean complains to the yellow bean “where are my clothes？”
2.Comparison
The main viewpoints， analyses and inferences of Chinese advertising environment in this report are originated in M&M’s Red Bean’s Adventure （China）.
（1）Similarities
a. Characters and Artistic Presentations
An effective advert should be designed with AIDA model （attract， attention， interest and desire） formulated by E.St.Elmo Lewis in order to leave profound impression to the audiences （Strong 1925）. Accordingly， both countries accent on using video technique to create living cartoon characters as humorous elements to attract attention by showing exaggerated and imaginary scene. In Red Bean’s Adventure （China）， the animated large-sized chocolate beans can speak Chinese and easily pose gestures of farcical exaggeration on the purpose of strengthening visual impact， rendering artistic effect， and creating humorous effect. Also， M&M’s in America has created six different chocolate beans with different personalities to compose serial funny stories. b. Incongruity Theory
Arthur Asa Berger （1992） has introduced some significant theories on humor include the incongruity theory. The Red Bean’s Adventure （China） shows that the chocolate beans have enjoyed the party before they were found they are actually chocolate. The story has variance on plot. And M&M’s commercial called the Coming of Blue Bean （America） also has unexpected results when the green bean and orange bean are found kidnaping blue beans for the sake of fame. Laughter as a response to the perception of incongruity. People’s reactions to these unpredictable and amusing results are usually surprised. And laugh at their personal incorrect or false expectation. According to Boyd （2004， p. 20）， a British PhD， “Humor frequently contains an unexpected， often sudden， shift in perspective， which gets assimilated by Incongruity Theory.”
（2）Differences
a. Cultural Differences
Individualism and Collectivism： M&M’s Red Bean’s Adventure （China） emphases on depicting the individual in relation of friends or groups， and uses metaphor and metonymy such as “Where are my clothes （shell）？” to create humorous effect. For these reasons， China tends to have collectivistic culture characterized by high-context communication. On the contrary， commercials of M&M’s in America are usually giving close shot to a certain chocolate bean with less oral description but more observational elements， assert to America seems to have individualistic culture with low-context communication （Hofstede 1980）. Therefore， interpersonal relationships and joking relationship in America is more informal and casual than that in China.
Uncertainty Avoidance： In America， the backgrounds of commercials are of great variety： island， wild jungle， ocean， sky， etc. However， the M&M’s commercials in China are always shown some parties or families. As Hofstede （1991， p. 60） illustrated， “The use of formality in interaction with others and apparent resistance of change are all characteristics of high uncertainty avoidance”. Hence， the multifarious executions not only attract audiences， but also represent that the American society tend to be of low uncertainty avoidance while China seems to be of high uncertainty avoidance. Thus， the forms of Chinese humor are usually Cross-talks and Sketch with less background changes while American humor often exists in physical comedy and slapstick （Greig 1923）.
Research shows that in individualistic countries with low uncertainty avoidance， it seems that consumers prefer humor-dominant messages. On the contrary， in collectivistic country with high uncertainty-aversion attitudes， humor can be used as a Trojan horse to convey the required information to the target group （Hatzithomas 2011， p. 60）. 3.Conclusion
To conclude， the previous chapters have discussed in details about the similarities and differences of commercials between M&M’s Red Bean’s Adventure （China） and other commercials in America. The conclusion has reached that both countries have used similar animated characters and applied incongruity theory of humor to create humorous effect. The cultural reasons for differences of humorous commercials in China and America can be linked to the different degrees of collectivism and uncertainty avoidance.
Reference：
[1]Berger， AA 1992， An Anatomy of Humor， Transaction Publisher， New Brunswick.
[2]Berger， PL 1997， Redeeming Laughter： the comic dimension of human experience， Walter de Gruyter， New York.
[3]Boyd， B 2004， ‘Laughter and literature’， Philosophy and Literature， vol. 28， no. 1， April， pp. 1-22.
[4]Greig， J 1969， The Psychology of Laughter and Comedy， George Allen & Unwin， London.
[5]Hatzithomas， L 2011， ‘Humor and cultural values in print advertising： a cross-cultural study’， International Marketing Review， vol. 28， no. 1， pp. 57-80.
[6]Hofstede， G 1980， Culture’s Consequences： international differences in work-related values， Beverly Hills， California.
[7]Hofstede， G 1991， Culture and Organizations， MacGraw-Hill， London.
[8]Strong， EK 1925， The Psychology of Selling and Advertising， Literary Licensing， New York.
Keywords：TV commercials， humorous commercials， humor in advertisement
摘 要：本論文将进行对中国幽默广告和美国幽默广告中的幽默元素进行详细的对比分析。首先这篇论文将会介绍M&M’s 巧克力中国区的广告，然后将对此广告和其他类似的幽默广告在相似性和不同点上进行对比。相似性将会分为两部分来介绍，一方面包括广告角色和艺术表现形式，另一方面是广告所使用的不一致理论。不同点也将从文化差异分析，包括个人主义和集体主义还有不确定性规避。最后，总结部分将会对文章进行一个简短的概括。
关键词：电视广告；幽默广告；广告中的幽默；
文章编号：1674-3520（2015）-05-00-02
1.Description of the Advert
Name： M&M’s Red Bean’s Adventure TV commercial.
Region： Mainland China.
Plot： Two large-sized chocolate beans are having a party with three people. They are playing “Truth or Adventure”. The red bean is chosen to take an Adventure. Then， a female friend asks the red bean with her finger touching on the bean’s belly “Do you dare to strip naked？” Suddenly， the red bean jumps on the table， strips its red candy shell （clothes）， and dances happily. However， people find that inside the red bean is chocolate， because the red bean is naked. They become really greedy and bite the red bean. Finally， the red bean complains to the yellow bean “where are my clothes？”
2.Comparison
The main viewpoints， analyses and inferences of Chinese advertising environment in this report are originated in M&M’s Red Bean’s Adventure （China）.
（1）Similarities
a. Characters and Artistic Presentations
An effective advert should be designed with AIDA model （attract， attention， interest and desire） formulated by E.St.Elmo Lewis in order to leave profound impression to the audiences （Strong 1925）. Accordingly， both countries accent on using video technique to create living cartoon characters as humorous elements to attract attention by showing exaggerated and imaginary scene. In Red Bean’s Adventure （China）， the animated large-sized chocolate beans can speak Chinese and easily pose gestures of farcical exaggeration on the purpose of strengthening visual impact， rendering artistic effect， and creating humorous effect. Also， M&M’s in America has created six different chocolate beans with different personalities to compose serial funny stories. b. Incongruity Theory
Arthur Asa Berger （1992） has introduced some significant theories on humor include the incongruity theory. The Red Bean’s Adventure （China） shows that the chocolate beans have enjoyed the party before they were found they are actually chocolate. The story has variance on plot. And M&M’s commercial called the Coming of Blue Bean （America） also has unexpected results when the green bean and orange bean are found kidnaping blue beans for the sake of fame. Laughter as a response to the perception of incongruity. People’s reactions to these unpredictable and amusing results are usually surprised. And laugh at their personal incorrect or false expectation. According to Boyd （2004， p. 20）， a British PhD， “Humor frequently contains an unexpected， often sudden， shift in perspective， which gets assimilated by Incongruity Theory.”
（2）Differences
a. Cultural Differences
Individualism and Collectivism： M&M’s Red Bean’s Adventure （China） emphases on depicting the individual in relation of friends or groups， and uses metaphor and metonymy such as “Where are my clothes （shell）？” to create humorous effect. For these reasons， China tends to have collectivistic culture characterized by high-context communication. On the contrary， commercials of M&M’s in America are usually giving close shot to a certain chocolate bean with less oral description but more observational elements， assert to America seems to have individualistic culture with low-context communication （Hofstede 1980）. Therefore， interpersonal relationships and joking relationship in America is more informal and casual than that in China.
Uncertainty Avoidance： In America， the backgrounds of commercials are of great variety： island， wild jungle， ocean， sky， etc. However， the M&M’s commercials in China are always shown some parties or families. As Hofstede （1991， p. 60） illustrated， “The use of formality in interaction with others and apparent resistance of change are all characteristics of high uncertainty avoidance”. Hence， the multifarious executions not only attract audiences， but also represent that the American society tend to be of low uncertainty avoidance while China seems to be of high uncertainty avoidance. Thus， the forms of Chinese humor are usually Cross-talks and Sketch with less background changes while American humor often exists in physical comedy and slapstick （Greig 1923）.
Research shows that in individualistic countries with low uncertainty avoidance， it seems that consumers prefer humor-dominant messages. On the contrary， in collectivistic country with high uncertainty-aversion attitudes， humor can be used as a Trojan horse to convey the required information to the target group （Hatzithomas 2011， p. 60）. 3.Conclusion
To conclude， the previous chapters have discussed in details about the similarities and differences of commercials between M&M’s Red Bean’s Adventure （China） and other commercials in America. The conclusion has reached that both countries have used similar animated characters and applied incongruity theory of humor to create humorous effect. The cultural reasons for differences of humorous commercials in China and America can be linked to the different degrees of collectivism and uncertainty avoidance.
Reference：
[1]Berger， AA 1992， An Anatomy of Humor， Transaction Publisher， New Brunswick.
[2]Berger， PL 1997， Redeeming Laughter： the comic dimension of human experience， Walter de Gruyter， New York.
[3]Boyd， B 2004， ‘Laughter and literature’， Philosophy and Literature， vol. 28， no. 1， April， pp. 1-22.
[4]Greig， J 1969， The Psychology of Laughter and Comedy， George Allen & Unwin， London.
[5]Hatzithomas， L 2011， ‘Humor and cultural values in print advertising： a cross-cultural study’， International Marketing Review， vol. 28， no. 1， pp. 57-80.
[6]Hofstede， G 1980， Culture’s Consequences： international differences in work-related values， Beverly Hills， California.
[7]Hofstede， G 1991， Culture and Organizations， MacGraw-Hill， London.
[8]Strong， EK 1925， The Psychology of Selling and Advertising， Literary Licensing， New York.