Last Friday (October 12) was a red letter day for stationery, with the magazine Stationery Matters featured as the guest publication on Have I Got News For You’s missing words round.
Far from the usual comedic mockery, to everyone’s delight, there were name checks for pen company Parker – referring to its iconic status – as well as the London Stationery Show, with only a tad of irony from the teams.
An image, taken from Stationery Matters, (which supports the Stationery Show London), showed an empty planner from A Gift From The Gods Dream Odyssey collection. Panelists were asked “what was the consequence of visiting the London Stationery Show?”, with the answer, “a sudden urge to buy pencils.” Illustrating the quip was an image of the Dream Odyssey pencil set, daily planner, pen and spiral notebook.
However, the blank pages of the planner provided a perfect opportunity to deride Strictly star Seann Walsh’s bookings for the next 18 months, a reference to the fact that he had got a little too close to his Strictly dance partner Katya Jones that week! Fortunately for A Gift From The Gods, their stationery didn’t come under fire from the show’s host, comedian Richard Ayoade, or from the panelists.
Enthused A Gift From The Gods founder and managing director Jane Reucroft: ”We’ve made it! We’ll be on Dave forever!”
Added Stationery Matters editor Julia Faiers: “Aside from the dig at Sean Walsh, the magazine’s appearance on the show put stationery firmly in the spotlight – if only for a few minutes – and gave the industry a fantastic, positive boost. The only industry people to receive a ribbing on the missing word slot were pen bloggers who, as Richard Ayoade explained, type about how much they love pens!”
Top: Have I Got News For You’s team captains Ian Hislop (left) and Paul Merton.
