In August of last year, The Washington Post published an article with a headline that I absolutely love: “Why is millennial humor so weird?” The subtitle explained that this meme-heavy style of humor is bleak, illogical, and nonsensical. And they’re not wrong. This should probably worry brands a little. It’s common knowledge that humor is a fantastic way to connect with consumers, and this is particularly critical for younger generations: millennials want desire authentic, personalized experiences. However, creating these experiences is challenging when your target audience finds humor in things like a photoshopped image of Lord Farquaad from Shrek with the letter E superimposed on him.

Yes, you read that right. That image (and all the others it has inspired) is currently one of the most popular memes of 2018. If you’re confused, don’t worry. I don’t understand it either, but it makes me laugh every time. Meme marketing – leveraging viral humor to increase brand visibility on social media – is a strategy with significant risks and equally significant potential rewards. The risk: a very public and embarrassing failure.

Unoriginal and unimaginative. There’s nothing clever or insightful about this. Ruffles simply inserted a meme into their tweet and expected us to react with unrestrained joy, diving into pools of their chips like Scrooge McDuck. How disrespectful! The reward: resonating with a large number of young people who appreciate relatable brands that don’t take themselves too seriously. Additionally, a viral tweet is free advertising. Let’s examine some entertaining tweets from five of the funniest Twitter accounts out there: all millennial-approved companies that expertly use Twitter for brand building and audience engagement.

#1: Denny’s (@DennysDiner, 501K followers)

Their restaurants may be retro, but their social media team understands contemporary humor. Combining absurdity with melancholy, the tweets from @DennysDiner are incredibly popular with my generation.

A recurring theme in the tweets discussed in this post is brand self-awareness. Denny’s understands their appeal to cannabis enthusiasts and embraces it.

This is what Denny’s excels at on Twitter: seamlessly blending their signature products – particularly pancakes – into bizarre and hilarious scenarios. Combining something as wholesome as a pancake with a joke about loneliness is a surefire recipe for success.

How to Emulate Denny’s on Your Twitter Account:

Identify a core product or service and explore how you can infuse humor into it. For example, if you sell office chairs, suggest to your Twitter audience that they can use your product to gaze out the window and contemplate the impending climate crisis. Additionally, pay attention to Denny’s tone: they tweet as if they are an individual, not a large corporation. While you don’t need to be as extreme, strive for a more human and less robotic tone on Twitter.

#2: Wendy’s (@Wendys, 2.72M followers)

While Denny’s uses sadness to connect with Twitter users, Wendy’s takes a different approach: directly targeting their main competitor, McDonald’s. The fast-food giant has achieved remarkable success with its anti-McDonald’s brand persona, frequently criticizing its rival for using frozen beef and having notoriously unreliable ice cream machines. In fact, consumers find @Wendys aggressive social media marketing so entertaining that the company even released a 5-track mixtape titled We Beefin? in March.

Here, Wendy’s expertly uses a popular joke structure to promote their 4 for $4 deal while simultaneously mocking McDonald’s at every opportunity. It’s on-trend, funny, and effective.

This meme went viral in the weeks after the release of Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War. Again, Wendy’s connects with its target audience’s interests through humor while doing what it does best: roasting McDonald’s.

How to Emulate Wendy’s on Your Twitter Account:

Don’t.

#3: Netflix U.S. (@netflix, 5.17M followers)

Unlike Denny’s, @netflix doesn’t dedicate its entire Twitter feed to jokes; they usually stick to a more traditional approach. However, their social media team has a knack for incorporating TV- and film-related memes. A current sense of humor is a valuable asset for any brand on Twitter, especially for one as popular with millennials as Netflix.

Netflix hit the nail on the head with this one. They recognized that the royal wedding would have people glued to their phones even more than usual, making it the perfect day to go viral. And what better way to achieve that than by comparing the royal couple to Shrek and Fiona?

This one requires a bit more context, but it’s still an excellent tweet. “beerbongs & bentleys” is the latest album from Post Malone, a rapper who bears a striking resemblance to Parks and Rec’s Ron Swanson, but with dreadlocks. Netflix uses this opportunity to poke fun at one of Spotify’s most-streamed artists while promoting a key element of its TV Comedy offerings.

Countless corporate Twitter accounts have failed miserably with tweets like this. What makes this particular tweet from Netflix so successful is its self-deprecating humor. High school TV dramas are among the platform’s most popular content, and they’re not afraid to poke fun at themselves.

How to Emulate Netflix on Your Twitter Account:

Netflix doesn’t do anything outrageous or extraordinary; they observe what their followers find amusing and find ways to connect their service to those trends. Your key takeaway is to stay current with what’s considered funny online. For example, the format of the tweet mocking high school TV dramas is highly adaptable. Utilize this and other popular memes to playfully tease consumers or competitors. Most importantly, if you suspect your social media team isn’t entirely up-to-date with the latest internet trends, exercise caution when attempting humor. There are few things more awkward for a brand than outdated, out-of-touch attempts at being trendy and funny.

#4: Chipotle (@ChipotleTweets, 896K followers)

The secret to the Mexican-inspired grill’s online success is simple: they understand their audience. @ChipotleTweets knows that we don’t use the water cups for water and that we do take extra hot sauce. They know that our orders are predictable and that their most enthusiastic customers are often not entirely sober. Most importantly, Chipotle understands that embracing these truths, rather than denying them, fosters customer loyalty.

These two tweets are great examples of the previously mentioned self-awareness. Chipotle could be uptight and crack down on customers who take extra drinks and hot sauce. Instead, they embrace the humor of the situation, transforming a minor inconvenience into a branding opportunity.

How to Emulate Chipotle on Your Twitter Account:

Self-awareness is paramount. Recognize why your customers value your product or service and use humor to address it. Then, find the right balance between relatability and absurdity. For instance, if you install granite countertops, you could tweet something like: “When you’re craving a home-cooked meal but despise your countertop, so you end up eating raw meat in the bathtub again.”

#5: MoonPie (@MoonPie, 241K followers)

No discussion of Twitter branding is complete without mentioning @MoonPie. I had no idea what a MoonPie even was until I stumbled upon their tweets. Similar to Denny’s, MoonPie has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers by posting tweets that, honestly, make very little sense. The product is a chocolate-covered marshmallow treat, yet the tweets read like the inner monologue of a lonely, lovesick middle-aged man. Punctuation is scarce, and you can never fully anticipate where a tweet is going until you reach the very end.

That took an unexpected turn, didn’t it? It’s a processed marshmallow snack expressing its longing for a human woman named Linda to return to it. Twitter users love this kind of content because it completely defies their expectations of a corporate account. It doesn’t feel like marketing, yet it effectively increases brand visibility in a positive light.

You’re probably perplexed, wondering why a brand would imply that their product is for lonely, unhealthy individuals. I’ll tell you why: because it’s the complete opposite of what a brand is supposed to do. Brands are meant to convince you that their products will make you cool, popular, and happy (think Coca-Cola ads). MoonPie, however, does the opposite, and consumers appreciate their candor.

This is primarily funny because it’s absurd. Why would someone angrily hurl a MoonPie at another MoonPie? Twitter users gravitate towards brand accounts that don’t take themselves too seriously.

How to Emulate MoonPie on Your Twitter Account:

I understand your hesitation: not every business can afford to be this unrestrained on Twitter. MoonPie benefits from the fact that people would continue to crave packaged sweets even during a nuclear apocalypse; they don’t need to focus heavily on sales. You, on the other hand, need to advertise to drive growth. Perhaps the Lesson of MoonPie (a potential subtitle for Michael Bay’s Transformers 13) is this: don’t overthink your Twitter presence. Self-deprecation is universally appealing and can be a valuable tool when incorporated into your tweets occasionally. In fact, this very blog embodies this idea perfectly. Our writers provide insightful, well-informed advice while simultaneously incorporating humor, demonstrating their awareness of the world beyond paid search. Your followers will appreciate your efforts to step back and contextualize your product or service within the broader scope of life. Naturally, not all businesses can tweet like these five companies. If your target audience is primarily businesses or individuals over 30, or if you offer a serious, high-priced product or service, this style of humor may not be appropriate. However, if your brand targets young people, and you feel confident enough to take some risks on Twitter, there’s much to be learned from these examples. Embracing millennial humor can distinguish you from your dull competitors and demonstrate to potential customers that you’re a relatable and trustworthy brand. Moreover, you can leverage the growing potential of viral tweets to increase brand awareness without spending any money.