Who's laughing now?

1. Laughter.
2. A child laughing. 
3. A four month old baby laughing. 
4. A grandfather hearing their first grandchild laughing - for the first time. 
5. A grandfather looking on as his son holds his first grandchild up to the sky. Both the son and grandchild are laughing. Three generations in one moment. And in that single moment in time - life is perfect for all three. 

Yeah, post number Five above lands the plane, right? 

***

I don't care where you are in the world, these words will resonate with you. Because in your mind's eye, you are seeing this. You might be mentally visualizing your own family, you might be seeing your own child or grandchild. You might be an uncle or an aunt, or a friend of the family. But the most amazing thing is that the scene that you see (in your mind's eye) is valid no matter where you live in the world. Africa, Asia, Europe, North America - anywhere. 

The laughter of a child, in the arms of their parent, with the grandparents looking on....

And this folks..... is marketing. 

This vivid imagery could be used for selling travel. Or healthcare. Or life insurance. Or real estate. Or even technology - allowing grandparents to experience the laughter of their first grandchild from thousands of miles away. 

Six Words - For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn. 

Long before the Internet, the above story tells the power of words - and imagery. 

The claim of Hemingway's authorship originates in an unsubstantiated anecdote about a wager among him and other writers. Hemingway is said to have claimed he could write a short story only six words short. In a 1991 letter to Canadian humorist John Robert Colombo, science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke recounts: "He's [Hemingway] supposed to have won a $10 bet (no small sum in the '20s) from his fellow writers. They paid up without a word. ... Here it is. I still can't think of it without crying —  FOR SALE. BABY SHOES. NEVER WORN."

By 1921, the story was already being parodied: the July issue of Judge that year published a version that used a baby carriage instead of shoes; there, however, the narrator described contacting the seller to offer condolences, only to be told that the sale was due to the birth of twins rather than of a single child.

Ah! A positive spin! A happy ending....a twist in the plot! We need a bigger baby carriage! Twins!!!

Here is the point of today's Sunday Blog. We've heard that "A picture is worth a thousand words" but I am not sure that is really true. In today's world of high tech marketing, and AI generated visuals, and mass marketed media, it might be time to rethink this. Scroll to the top. Read posts one to five again. It builds, it builds with five being the most clear - the most vivid - the most powerful. 

We FEEL the scene, we can see it in our own personal experience. In our own families, in our own lives. Three generations in one moment. We can all relate to that moment in time, right? That could be OUR family. That could be....me. 

We cannot be sure that Hemingway did (or did not) say the above quote. But here is mine: 

"Six words are worth a thousand pictures." 

Also this: I'm the grandfather in the story at the top. And yes, all is perfect in the world for me (and for my wife) on this Sunday Morning.