Let’s go sports!
Sports! This summer is gonna absolutely eat with the Olympics and Copa America coming up. But rn we’re glued to our devices for the 2024 Euros, aka the UEFA European Football Championship. Yes, we’ve got multiple fantasy teams in the mix (team names: “Kroos Control” and “Hey Jude, Don’t Make It Bad” – if you know, you know), and we’re constantly on the prowl for lol content. Our faves so far? Former England international player Peter Crouch trying really hard to guess European flags and OneFootball’s roundup of the most hilarious moments from the first week. More currywurst? Yes, please. If you and your brand want to jump on the joy bandwagon and spread the love of sports this summer, now’s your chance!

Here’s how to respond to that guy on your Zoom call
Whenever we jump on Zoom to talk with a group about how important it is to use humor in business, there’s always that guy who clicks the little, yellow hand thingy and proceeds to tell us there’s no way his company would try it. They’re too serious, humor is too risky, blah, blah, blah. Hey we get it. We’re cool with skeptics. But it’s a fact that humor in business is creeping more and more mainstream. To wit, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (aka the Holy Grail of awards for advertising and marketing), being held this week, has introduced a humor category. Like T.L. Stanley writes in ADWEEK, this is going to have a “profound impact on the business.” And check out this fire piece in the FT on the new awards. It’s all about the importance of humor to create real human connections in a world being taken over by AI and bots!

Did you know “workplace humor events” were a thing?
We’re so psyched because we just learned a new fact. Did you know “workplace humor events” were a thing?? Now we both do! Apparently, this vibe can be traced back to a seminal business leadership book – and now the authors have popped up with a great, new article on how leaders can create more workplace humor events to help their people “feel motivated, appreciated and less stressed at work.” Check out the article for do’s and don’ts like these: do allow employees to respond to leaders with humor, but don’t try to be a standup comic at work!

PepperPicks
If you’re headed to Key West in a couple of weeks for the 2024 Key Lime Festival, our staff recommends the Little Pearl for local seafood minus the hordes of tourists.