This caught my eye in The Guardian today.
Pubs are protesting government policies by banning Labour MPs – a storytelling tactic in itself. No marches. No manifestos. Just a simple, symbolic exclusion that says something isn’t working.
Then the Guardian adds a second layer of storytelling: an AI (presumably) image of Keir Starmer staring longingly at a pint he can’t reach.
And that’s why it works.
A politician who wants access but can’t get it.
A pint that wants customers, but can’t find them.
A pub dressed for Christmas, tinsel out, lights on – but business constrained by forces outside its control.
No anger. No lecturing. Just quiet frustration, framed in the most familiar of British settings.
It turns the Landlords protest against policy into something instantly human – and that’s why the image lingers long after the words are forgotten.
(Pic credit: The Guardian.)
Andrew Greenhalgh 