Introduction: Humor is a communication strategy commonly used in commercial advertising, as well as in social and public health campaigns, due to its ability to capture attention and establish an emotional connection with the audience. In Spain, traffic and road safety campaigns have occasionally incorporated humor into their advertisements. Methodology: This study analyzes the campaigns broadcast by the Spanish Directorate-General for Traffic (DGT) since 1960 to determine the prevalence of humor in their television advertisements. It also uses a questionnaire administered to 403 participants to examine campaign recall and perceived effectiveness. Results: Only 13 campaigns met the inclusion criteria (11.1% of the total). Participants perceived humor as a less effective communication strategy than approaches based on emotional impact and realism, and they demonstrated low recall of campaigns using this type of message. Discussion: The limited recall may be associated with the use of metaphors, irony, or exaggeration conveyed through a light-hearted tone that failed to resonate with the audience. Conclusions: The findings highlight the need for systematic evaluation of road safety campaigns to assess the effectiveness of the communication strategies employed.