“It’s very state of the art and designed to make shopping a natural and relaxing experience.
It has an automatic water mister to keep all the fruit fresh.
Just before it switches on, you hear the sound of distant thunder and smell the aroma of fresh rain.
As you approach the milk aisle, you hear cows mooing and there’s the scent of fresh hay.
As you approach the eggs, you hear hens clucking and the air is filled with the delicious smell of bacon and eggs frying.
And the vegetable department features the aroma of fresh buttered corn.”
“It sounds wonderful,” enthused the neighbour.
“Yes, but I don’t buy toilet paper there any more.”
Joke Poo: The Dog Park Debacle
A man was excitedly telling his friend about the brand new dog park the city had just opened.
“It’s incredibly immersive and designed to give the dogs a truly stimulating experience!
They have automatic sprinklers set on timers to simulate a refreshing rain shower. Just before they go off, you hear a recording of distant thunder and smell the distinct, earthy aroma of damp soil.
As you approach the agility course, you hear barks of encouragement and triumphant yelps, and the air is filled with the scent of freshly cut grass.
Near the designated digging zone, you hear happy growls and frantic digging sounds, and the air is thick with the rich, unmistakable smell of buried bones.
And over by the fire hydrant, you can always detect the lingering fragrance of maple syrup!”
“Wow, that sounds amazing!” replied his friend.
“Yeah, it is… except I don’t bring my own poop bags anymore.”
Okay, let’s break down this joke and then sprinkle some comedic seasoning on it.
Joke Dissection:
- Setup: The joke builds up a hyper-realistic, multi-sensory supermarket experience. It’s all about creating an atmosphere so immersive it feels natural.
- Expectation: The listener (and the neighbor in the joke) is led to believe this supermarket is a consumer paradise. The detailed descriptions create a positive expectation.
- Punchline: “Yes, but I don’t buy toilet paper there any more.” This is the subversion of expectation. The abrupt shift from sensory bliss to the implication of a negative experience involving toilet paper creates the humor. The punchline is funny because it’s vague, darkly humorous and unexpected. We are left to imagine what the experience in the toilet paper aisle is like.
Key Elements:
- Hyperrealism/Sensory Overload: The core of the joke hinges on a supermarket pushing sensory marketing to an absurd level.
- Subversion of Expectation: The joke plays with our expectation of a positive outcome based on the initial description.
- Toilet Paper Aisle: This specific product/location becomes the source of the unexplained negative experience.
Comedic Enrichment:
Now, let’s generate some new humor inspired by this:
Approach 1: Expanding on the Implied Toilet Paper Aisle Experience:
- Joke: A woman told me about a new supermarket that uses scent marketing. “In the bakery aisle, you smell fresh bread. In the meat section, they pump in the aroma of grilling steak. It’s incredible!” I said, “Sounds amazing! Do they have the fake rain and thunder in the produce section?” She shuddered, “Worse. In the toilet paper aisle… it smells faintly of regret.”
Why this works: This continues to play on the ambiguity of the original joke. It reinforces the idea that toilet paper purchasing in this particular market is a regrettable experience.
Approach 2: Amusing “Did You Know?” about Sensory Marketing
- Amusing Tidbit: Did you know some casinos pump oxygen into the air? The idea is to keep people more alert and gambling longer! Apparently, the toilet paper aisle in my local grocery store uses the opposite tactic – nitrogen…
Why this works: The “Did You Know?” format is familiar. The juxtaposition of the (relatively) serious fact about casinos with the absurd implied experience of the joke creates a humorous contrast. We imply that the supermarket is actively trying to deter the user from buying toilet paper.
Approach 3: Pushing the Sensory Overload Further
- Joke: The new supermarket is so intense. In the frozen food aisle, they not only chill the air but project images of penguins and play recordings of ice cracking. The only problem is, they also have a faint aroma of desperation, because they know no one wants to pay full price for frozen peas. In the Toilet Paper Aisle they pipe in the sound of gurgling pipes and the scent of sewage. But the weirdest thing is that in the condiment aisle they have a machine that whips your back. The Slogan reads “Get Back at Ketchup”
Why this works: We can push the concept of sensory marketing into weird and unexpected territories.
I hope these provide some amusing extensions to the original joke!