By Libby Esterle, Senior Account Executive

As our country began social distancing and sheltering-in-place due to the COVID-19 crisis, I decided to “treat” myself to a new Dutch oven, figuring I would be ramping up my cooking efforts over the next several weeks/months. While I already own a larger version, I wanted something a bit smaller and lighter weight and, if I’m being completely honest, I also wanted a little something new just for me.

After some online research, I finally settled on a white 4-quart version from a company I hadn’t heard of before: Marquette Castings (turns out finding that particular size was trickier than I anticipated). Fortunately, the reviews were good, the lifetime warranty great and the quality was superior to my larger version (I believe this is a case where you get what you pay for and the extra $30 I spent on this one was worth every penny).

In a nutshell, it was everything I expected it to be—and then something more. Nestled among the expected care instructions, were some other clever, funny and memorable tidbits, including:

• “Oven safe to 500 degrees. If your oven gets hotter than 500 degrees, you are either in a factory or laboratory, take your Dutch oven back home!”
• “The enamel is very hard, but it’s best not to bang or bump it too hard—let the kids use the other pots for a drum set.”
• “Loose knob? Tighten the screw.”

It was a completely unexpected, but welcome surprise, given the current COVID-19 environment we found ourselves in. I loved the fact that the company didn’t take itself too seriously and its witty humor and creativity definitely made me laugh out loud. And it struck the right balance between good and bad humor as well. It also firmly established the company’s brand in my mind. Not only for its high-quality product but its approach to communications.

So, tell me, in what ways have you seen creative communications? How has humor been incorporated into successful outreach strategies? What makes something memorable for all the right reasons?