First we had Real Time Marketing. Now, according to David Griner at Adweek, we’ve got what I’ll call “Faux Time Marketing.” You know what we’re talking about, those times when a brand appears to be drunk, or texting with mittens on, or when they share a fake image on Twitter just to get a reaction out of people, knowing full well that it’s not real.

Griner’s point/question – and it’s a good one – is that brands who may be aiming to be overly clever but are sacrificing some level of trust in the quest for Mashable headlines or other attention. He points out that while the controversial tweets got lots of attention, the follow-ups that clarified what exactly the brand was going for received far less, meaning some percentage of people really think Barbie was going to be on the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover, or that JCPenney was drunk during the Super Bowl, not just having a laugh.

The important thing, something that I always try to keep in mind, is the old reliable “Do no harm” motto. While I’m always a big fan of comedy that makes the teller giggle (MST3K, Letterman etc) the reality here is that we’re not in a comedy format. Sure, we as brand marketers and social media strategists can be funny in the copy we write. But there is a limit to how far that can go before, yes, it begins to impact the trust the audience places in us. That’s especially true if the brand itself doesn’t have a reputation for being super funny or playful as it can come off as inconsistent and therefore jarring for the audience.