Sarcasm in Copywriting

Oh Mr. Lineker, what have you done?

You committed one of the biggest copywriting sins of all - sarcasm. Don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of Mr. Match Of The Day. I'm an admirer of his insight (into life as well as footie), his politics and what's more, he comes across as a nice fella.

So - where has he gone so wrong?

A week or so ago, Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool coach, signed a contract extension. No surprise - he's been a massive success and he clearly loves the club and his job.

Gary tweeted, 'I don't know what they see in him.'

I reckon that's quite funny ... because the idea that Klopp isn't up to the job is so ludicrous.

But ... plenty of followers didn't get the joke and piled in to defend Klopp.

As it happens, Lineker wasn't the least bit fussed by the negative response from a handful of his Twitter followers. But there's a lesson here.

If you want to avoid upsetting people, avoid sarcasm. We all do it. I bet you have. I know I have - most recently three weeks ago. Face-to-face, on Zoom, on the phone even - no problem, because the listener can see you or hear you or both. They can usually see that you're not being serious.

With the written word, it's different. People can easily take offence. So go ahead - use humour in your communications.

But lay off the sarcasm. You'll probably upset more people than you impress.

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