Americans Voted "Funniest Nation", Germans "Least Funny": Global Poll

    LONDON, June 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --
    - Spanish Funniest Europeans; Brits "Not as Funny as They Think"
    - America Hailed as "Comedy Superpower"
    - Humor is Key When Meeting New People

The Americans have been voted the world's "funniest nationality" - the one "best at making people laugh" - in a global poll, which also names the Germans the "least funny" nationality and the British "not as funny as they think".

30,000 people across 15 countries were asked to name both the "funniest" and "least funny" nationality in a poll conducted by Badoo.com (http://www.badoo.com), the world's largest social network for meeting new people, with 119m users worldwide.

The Americans were voted the funniest nationality, ahead of the Spanish - the funniest Europeans - in second, Italians in third and British in seventh.

The voting for the "least funny" nationality confirmed the view of America's Mark Twain that "a German joke is no laughing matter". The Germans won, ahead of the Russians and Turks.

"When we meet someone new, one of the first things we notice is whether they make us laugh", says Lloyd Price, Badoo's Marketing Director. Badoo.com helps millions of people meet every month.

America is a worthy poll winner, says Price. "It's the world's only comedy superpower." Americans are the folks who gave us sitcoms including Friends, The Simpsons, Frasier and Seinfeld, plus any number of great comedians.

The British, who brought us Monty Python and The Office, pride themselves on their humor but learn from the Badoo poll that they're not as funny as they think. They placed just seventh of 15 - behind the Brazilians, French and Mexicans.

The idea that the Germans are unfunny is not new: Twain delivered his verdict on German jokes over a century ago.

The stereotype probably comes from the German - or, Prussian - reputation for efficiency and rationality, at the expense of humor.

While it was Twain who best encapsulated German humor, it was WH Auden, the Anglo-American poet, who best expressed the importance of humor generally, observing: "Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh."

    Funniest Nationalities

    1.    American
    2.    Spanish
    3.    Italian
    4.    Brazilian
    5.    French
    6.    Mexican
    7.    British
    8.=   Dutch
    8.=   Russian
    10.   Belgian


    Least Funny

    1.    German
    2.    Russian
    3.    Turkish

    Source: Badoo polled 30,000 users online in April/May 2011
    Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Badoo.com