Not with the Joker it isn't. Sucking up to him would simply get you his attention, which is always an extremely bad thing.

Look how he treats Harley, how many times he has tried to murder her, and (supposedly) he actually likes her!

Even assuming that the average person is a dumbass, I find it hard to believe that after over a decade of Joker's killing sprees Gothamites still haven't realized that the only way to avoid getting killed by the Joker is to a)be Batman or b)hope he never notices you ever.