The joke:
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have signed a partnership agreement with Procter & Gamble, the maker of Charmin. Insiders say their first project will be a new bathroom tissue called Royal Flush.
How I wrote it:
This news item grabbed my attention because Procter & Gamble is associated with the many products it makes, one of which I thought might lead to a punch line.
More specifically, I thought I could use my Punch Line Maker #3 and ask this question about the topic: “What Procter & Gamble product might the Duke and Duchess of Sussex endorse?”
To answer that question, and create a punch line, I brainstormed products associated with the topic handle “Procter & Gamble,” focusing on the least regal ones. I expected that P & G could be associated with “bathroom tissue,” which has the sub-association “toilets.”
The other topic handle, “Duke and Duchess of Sussex,” is associated with “royal.” So I created the wordplay punch line “Royal Flush” to link those associations of the two topic handles.
I confirmed that P & G does make a bathroom tissue, Charmin. So I added that brand name to the topic, to strengthen the logic of the joke and make the connection between the topic and punch line even clearer.
I remembered having seen the wordplay “Royal Flush” before, as the name of a real company on the side of a portable toilet. But I decided to use it as my punch line anyway because I thought it would be surprising, and funny, in this completely different context.
Am I being too mean, linking this likeable young couple to toilets? I don’t think so, because they are the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, so pretty much any joke at their expense is “punching up.”