Don't go a day without laughter

The game is up for grumps – soon it's going to be hard to resist the challenge to tickle our funny bones and cheer up.

That’s because online entertainment group Jackpotjoy has launched a campaign to lift the nation out of its gloomy mood. Leading with a series of funny ads campaign ' Just for the Jackpotjoy of it', nation’s leading online bingo brand Jackpotjoy is inviting everyone to have fun

The company felt obliged to take a stand against misery when they discovered that Britain is now officially in a laughter recession.

That’s because adults are supposed to laugh at least 15 times a day – but here we barely manage half that amount. Adults in the UK laugh only 7.2 times a day on average.

And it appears that its age that makes us lose our laughter lustre. Experts say pre-school children laugh between 300 - 400 times every day but in adults they take on more responsibility and conform to the dreary economic conditions.

A range of influences makes people less upbeat than they should be. In the survey, two-thirds of people polled, or a staggering 66%, claimed they were in desperate need of more fun in their lives with lack of money (55%) and the spate of bad weather this summer (46%) cited as the main factors for the lack of fun and laughter.

Other obstacles to having enough fun included work pressures (30%), family pressures (23%) and the end of the summer events (Jubilee and Olympics) and Bank Holidays (20%). 

Where you live can also play a role in your mood. The statistics showed regional variations, with lads and lassies up north having the highest chuckle quota. Leeds is now officially the capital of laughter on 8.7 titters a day, followed by Plymouth at 8.6 and Newcastle at 8.5.

People in Norwich have the biggest humour deficit as they laugh only 5.4 times a day, nearly three times less than the recommended daily dose. Folks in Brighton (6.1) and Glasgow (6.2) will also need to lighten up and let some laughter into their lives.
Wherever you are in Britain you can apply to Jackpotjoy for funds that will be used to make people giggle. What do you think would cheer the nation up? What would make your friends, family and neighbours laugh? The only criterion for entering is that your plan has to be absolutely silly and ridiculous. Serious proposals will be automatically disqualified!

So far, people around the country have been engaging in a range of pranks and stunts which have won them prizes from the £250,000 fund.

The laughter which the campaign generates won’t only be good for the nation’s mood but for its health as well. It's long been recognised that laughter can boost the immune system as well as stave off mental illnesses like depression. Consultant psychologist, Anjula Mutanda, agrees that laughter is still the best medicine from a mental health point of view.

“The importance of fun, laughter and joy cannot be underestimated, and the wealth of benefits that laughter provides are endless,” she said.

So don’t go another day without a giggle. Have a look at the Facebook and Twitter pages of Jackpotjoy. If you pull off the right trick, you could be laughing all the way to the bank.