One of the downsides of the advertising world’s new(ish)found enthusiasm for cause advertising is that the world has been swamped with it, making it hard to motivate people to notice one cause and act on its behalf, even in good times. These are not good times.

The biennial UK telethon, Red Nose Day, by British Charity, Comic Relief, isn’t new and doesn’t support a new cause. It’s thirty-five years old. It doesn’t have shiny new clothes with which to woo people but this year it has London agency, Pablo, and the wonderful Dame Judi Dench.

The centre of this year’s Funny is Power campaign is a 60-second film directed by Sami Abusamra from Mister Tibbs and presented by Dame Judi, which ends with her using a vacuum cleaner on Cumberbatch’s face to show that, despite our differences, we are all united by the appeal of humour.

The campaign is running in the UK across digital, social, out-of-home, TV, video-on-demand, and partnerships up until BBC One’s Red Nose Day Night of TV on Friday March 19. It aims to get people to involved in fundraising, supporting, donating and/or watching the telethon.

Included in the campaign is a design identity crafted in-house by Pablo lead designer, Mark Harrison – a logo, iconography and other visual assets such as photography by Tom van Schelven, all of which underline the value of humour.

Comic Relief was founded by Richard Curtis and Lenny Henry in 1985 in response to the famine in Ethiopia. This year, it will use the money raised during the Red Nose Day period to tackle homelessness, mental health stigma, domestic abuse, and support those impacted by COVID-19. In Australia, Red Nose Day has been active since 1988, and works both to save babies from dying through research and education and support the families whose babies