Humor vs. Monotone

While reading the article about The Daily Show by Geoffrey Baym it became apparent that young audiences in this day of age are no longer affected by “serious” media. Often something may be important, but if not introduced in an interesting way it will be overlooked. This made me think of a related example that many young adults have experienced being “preached” to in school and health class surrounding the importance of having safe sex. Usually it was the authoritative manner in which it was presented and the seriousness that caused these talks to go in one ear and out the other. However, for example, in this condom commercial young people are more apt to listen to important information if it is introduced through the use of humor, as is true with The Daily Show. This aspect of humor keeps the audience interested and able to reflect upon the actual information instead of letting the overall message be swept away in a haze of monotone speeches.