I have been subscribing to the New Yorker since before I set foot in high school, so I don't often receive mailings targeted at new subscribers. A colleague of mine who does receive such mailings, thinking I might for some reason be interested, surprised me with the gift of a promotional refrigerator magnet that was included in a subscription offer. It boasts "THE BEST WRITING ANYWHERE, EVERYWHERE" in all caps for those who think that's how the best writing looks. All kidding aside, I suppose it's really done so that the word EVERYWHERE may appear in capitals in the Irvin font like the magazine's logo.
The magnet is illustrated not with a well-crafted sentence or paragraph but with a wordless 2012 cartoon by Danny Shanahan showing a family reading at the beach. Who can fault the New Yorker for promoting its editorial content with a cartoon? Certainly not I. Finally, since no practitioner of fridge magnet design can leave well-enough alone, the cartoon does not appear as Mr. Shanahan intended, but with the superfluous addition of an orange sun overlapping the beach umbrella.
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| The New Yorker promotional magnet |
The cartoon as Danny Shanahan intended it:
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| Danny Shanahan The New Yorker, June 4, 2012, page 62 |
The cartoon as the New Yorker presented it:
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| Cartoon by Danny Shanahan |
Here's a rough transcript of the conversation that ensued after I was given the magnet:
docnad: Thank you so much. So, did you subscribe?
Colleague: No. I already get New York magazine. It has lots of pictures.
docnad: The New Yorker has pictures too.
Colleague: It has cartoons. I like pictures.
And there you have it.
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