Nordnet, cancellation letter (2000)

In August 2000, the French internet provider Nordnet sent its cancellation letters in Comic Sans MS. A typographic farewell of rare elegance.

The backstory

The year is 2000. The internet is booming, ISPs are multiplying, and Nordnet (a subsidiary of France Telecom) sends a cancellation letter to one of its subscribers. Nothing unusual so far. Except the letter is entirely written in Comic Sans MS.

Imagine: you’re leaving your ISP, and the official confirmation letter arrives in the most informal font ever created. The disconnect between the administrative formality of the content and the absolute casualness of the typography is an unintentional masterpiece.

Why it’s a gem

It’s a historical artefact. In 2000, Comic Sans was everywhere in French businesses, used without irony in official documents. This Nordnet letter is a time capsule: it captures a moment when nobody thought twice about using this font in a professional context. The lost innocence of the typographic world.