For some reason last time I spoke about a George Saunders short story that I loved.
Well, another one of my favourite short things is this comic strip from 2007 by Chris Onstad.
The strip - from the long-running series, Achewood - shows a cat walking around his neighbourhood at night, debating the merits of marriage.
It’s insightful and romantic and ends with one of my favourite ever sentences:
Ain’t like I was in danger of cheatin’ with Kate Moss in a limo behind Madrid I mean I got to own up that I am a regular man and sometimes a regular man does a regular thing like marry someone good.
I loved it so much that I transcribed it into a Word Doc and had my friend Will read the entire strip out at my wedding*.
Don’t get me wrong, I quite like ads. But I can’t think of a single ad that I would transcribe and get someone to read out loud at my wedding.
You just don’t get sentences that great in an ad.
There’s too much staked on not confusing people.
Too much emphasis on the idea landing.
Which is why, I reckon, most of the best ads don’t have words.
* My wife was the person who introduced me to Achewood in the first place, so it was all nice and symmetrical.