Oblique Messaging for Direct Truths

“Take the economist ad —“‘I never read the economist’—Management Trainee aged 42”—it’s a very boring proposition. It’s “read this magazine and you’ll be more successful at your job”, but by saying it in an oblique and funny way, it’s perfectly okay to say it.”

“Particularly in England, where people are incredibly oblique and indirect, you have to use humour as a way of actually saying what you want to say to some extent, because you can’t say anything directly.”