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A study of the use of humor in US. and UK. television advertising was developed by surveying ad agency executives in the two countries and then by conducting a content analysis of television commercials. The survey of executives revealed a more accepting attitude toward the use of humor, and a broader view of the potential uses of humor among the British agencies. The content analysis showed a significant increase in the use of humor in the US. since the last major benchmark study, but less humor than in the U.K. sample of advertising. An examination of the content analysis data using the Foote, Cone and Belding (FCB) planning matrix revealed a situational use of humor in both countries, with humor most often used with low involvement/ feeling products and least often used with high involvement/feeling and thinking products. For the most part, the views of agency executives reflect the incidence and use of humor in their respective countries.This research examines one aspect of British and U.S. advertising creativity-the use of humor as an executional style. Some observers contend that the British and American cultures are based on different assumptions that in turn, should be reflected in their advertising (Carey 1975, Lannon 1986.According to Lannon's scenario, British advertisers use more soft sell methods, which would include greater use of humor, than the more hard sell, fact-based model that she believes is dominant in U.S. advertising.In the following discussion, the use of humor in U.S. and U.K. television advertising is compared and then studied situationally using the Foote, Cone and Belding (FCB) planning matrix (see Background section for explanation). The following questions are addressed:1. Do British and American advertising executives differ in their views about the use of humor in advertising? 2. Is the frequency of humor in U.S. and U.K. television advertising consistent with the views expressed by the executives from the two countries? 3. Is there a situational application of humor related to the FCB categorization?Two approaches are used to probe these issues. The first compares the views of British and U.S. advertising executives toward humor. The second examines samples of commercials from the two countries to determine the incidence and application of humor. The goal of the executive survey is to learn if there are differences in how U.K. and U.S. advertisers view the role of humor, and whether such views are related to the tactical use of humor in the respective advertising samples drawn from the two countries. The expectation is that the views of U.K. executives will reflect the opinions expressed by Lannon and others and show greater partiality to the use of humor than their U.S. counterparts.Studying the actual advertising is expected to reveal greater use of humor in the sample of British advertising. The FCB analysis of the advertising is expected to show a greater use of humor by the British in all four cells; however, for both