How Co-op Funeralcare Used Bold Humor to Disrupt the Funeral Industry

Funeral homes have always sold death with solemnity.
A respectful tone, peaceful imagery, and carefully chosen words. It’s a business built on grief, where advertising can’t be seen as frivolous. At least, that’s what we’ve always believed.
But then came Co-op Funeralcare, a British funeral service company that turned the entire narrative on its head. Instead of tiptoeing around the discomfort of death, they leaned into it with bold humor.
Their slogan? “Elephant in the Room.”
The campaign? A giant inflatable elephant placed in the heart of London to remind people of the thing they don’t want to think about: their own funeral planning.
Now, if any other funeral service had taken this route, it might have been considered a career-ending move. But Co-op Funeralcare? The campaign was a huge success, raising awareness and encouraging conversations around end-of-life planning in a way no one had dared to before.
What seemed like a bold (and maybe even irreverent) move was, in reality, a perfectly executed strategy to break a taboo that had long been embedded in the market.
We don’t want to think about our own death.
That’s why buying a coffin or even just thinking about our end-of-life plans is an uncomfortable decision for most people. It’s something they avoid until it’s absolutely necessary.
Co-op Funeralcare understood this discomfort. They didn’t try to overcome it with sentimental, heart-wrenching messages. Instead, they took a radically different approach: they brought the topic of death into the open, using humor to disarm the anxiety.
By using humor, they didn’t just grab attention, they reframed the way people viewed the purchase. It wasn’t about death, it was about planning ahead, much like buying insurance or writing a will.
The campaign’s success showed that the real problem wasn’t the product itself, but how it was being presented. While competitors continued to sell with emotional farewells, Co-op Funeralcare turned their communication into something radically different: an anxiety-reducing strategy. Their message? “Start the conversation now so you don’t have to face the elephant in the room later.”
This wasn’t just marketing genius. It was a shift in perspective that completely transformed the market’s approach to an uncomfortable, often avoided decision.
Sometimes, entire industries get stuck in a narrative that feels unbreakable. But when someone dares to challenge that narrative, new opportunities, once thought impossible emerge.
Co-op Funeralcare realized that the aversion to death wasn’t an insurmountable obstacle. It was all about perspective.
For disruptors, this is the key: markets are often blocked by fear, discomfort, or taboos. And in those cases, the best strategy isn’t to soften the message. It’s to change it entirely.
Reinvent Your Brand’s Narrative & Amplify Your Impact
If you’re stuck selling with the same tired messaging that everyone else in your industry uses, you're just another face in the crowd.
Co-op Funeralcare didn’t settle for the same old formula, they shattered the mold. And it paid off in ways they could never have imagined.
Are you ready to change the way people see your brand? Let’s talk about how you can reinvent your narrative and carve out your own space in your market. And mostly break the mold!