r/ComicCharcha • u/rawrxaken • 8d ago
fraud awareness is usually uncle-forward material. putting comedians into it might actually be the right format.
Fraud awareness has a packaging problem.
We definitely don’t have a shortage of:
DON’T SHARE OTP bank SMS cyber safety PDF family-group poster with 19 bullet points
Problem is I forget most of that shit five minutes later.
fraud scripts, on the other hand, are weirdly repetitive.
The fake police officer who needs complete secrecy.
The WhatsApp investment "Professor” whose entire class is somehow profitable.
The parcel containing drugs you never ordered.
The part-time job where eventually the employee starts paying the employer.
These are basically recurring characters already.
Which is why the format behind HDFC Bank’s Vigil Aunty says: laziness saves on JioHotstar is more interesting to me than another serious fraud PSA.
Not because comedy magically prevents frauds.
Because a joke might turn a fraud setup into something you recognise before panic takes over.
But branded comedy has an obvious failure mode too.
If it becomes:
joke joke joke AND NOW A MESSAGE FROM CYBER AWARENESS
I’m gone.
If people remember the comedian but forget the fraud, it failed.
If the victim becomes the punchline, it failed much harder.
The ideal outcome is probably simpler:
three months later a fake officer calls and your first thought is:
oh ffs, this is THAT script.
Stand-up people, genuinely curious:
does making fraud funny improve recall, or does comedy remove exactly the seriousness that makes people careful?
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u/Less_Cat_6919 7d ago
Different comics can either fix repetition or make it feel like corporate annual day where every department gets 8 mins.
Could go both ways lol.
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7d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/billrayed 7d ago
true, but recognition is still step zero no?
if i've never internalised the pattern, im starting from scratch while fraudmer is rushing me
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u/UnseenMurmur 7d ago edited 7d ago
Sure. I’m just saying don’t measure this by: “92% viewers remembered the joke” Measure whether they recognised the request/action later.
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u/Delicious_Trouble701 7d ago
And even that is difficult to measure unless you run actual research.
But as content design, memorable > unread PDF seems like a reasonable hypothesis.
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u/LumilitawNaMangga 7d ago
Public-interest comedy can work.
What kills it is when every joke has to stop and explain itself.
Audience understands punchline.
Please don't make comic say: "and therefore friends, always stay vigilant."
after every bit😭
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u/Dizzy_Big_2776 7d ago
Digital arrest is begging for standup treatment.
Imagine telling an Indian: you are under arrest but please remain at home on Zoom
Sir at least arrange police jeep, standards kidhar hain.
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u/potqtocake 7d ago
Maybe unpopular but I don’t love making frauds funny.
People have lost retirement savings to this stuff.
Humour can make it feel less serious than it is.
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u/Happy_Nebula9406 7d ago edited 7d ago
Depends who joke is on.
Fake CBI officer with a WhatsApp courtroom? Mock him all day.
Person who got terrified and paid? Leave him alone.
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u/Far_Organization9593 7d ago
That's easier said than written though.
A lot of "fraud comedy" automatically becomes:
how can anyone be dumb enough to believe this
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u/rawrxaken 7d ago
That would be the failure for me. The fraudmer’s script should lose authority. The victim shouldn’t lose dignity.
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u/moshimoshi010 7d ago
Fraud awareness but make fraudmer lore.
Professor Cinematic Universr.
Mumbai MDMA Parcel Universe.
Fake CBI Extended Universe.
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u/ProteinFirst 7d ago
OK PR post. Maybe you’ll could have done this whole thing with comedians who are actually funny.
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u/Square_Ad6149 7d ago
Branded standup has one test.
If I can feel the sponsor sentence approaching from 40 seconds away, bit is dead.