Ever notice that in both times of joy and times of crisis we reach for metaphors to describe what is happening? (“I’m on cloud nine!” “It was a shipwreck!”) Perhaps, we do so instinctively because, by their visual nature, metaphors capture the actual as well as the emotional essence of situations in the most concise manner possible. As Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset wrote: “The metaphor is perhaps the most fruitful power of man. Its efficacy verges on magic.”
And that “magic,” even if the metaphor is a cliche, is why they are such effective sales and communication tools.
Here is a current illustration of a crisis calling forth such metaphors: