Because they do several things at once.
They take celebrities – people whose lives feel remote, curated and polished – and bring them back down to eye level. Not by attacking them, but by placing them in situations that feel painfully familiar.
They expose how grand titles often hide messy reality. ‘Head of Marketing’ sounds impressive. Many of us know it can just as easily mean team of one, juggling strategy, execution and the printer that’s just jammed again.
They also gently challenge backstories. Not in a hostile way, but with a raised eyebrow. A quiet pause. A reminder that past roles have a tendency to grow more senior, more influential, more decisive the further away we get from them.
What’s clever is that none of this is said explicitly.
It’s implied. And that’s why it works.
Good humour doesn’t lecture. It recognises. And the best of these graphics succeed because they tell several small truths at once – about status, titles, memory and storytelling – while letting us laugh at ourselves in the process.
Andrew Greenhalgh 