What slogan is given for Wernham Hogg in the premise of The Office (UK)?

The slogan given for Wernham Hogg in the premise of The Office is “life is stationery.” It is a pun that links the company’s paper-trading business with the phrase “life is stationary.”

Wernham Hogg is a fictional paper merchant based in the Slough Trading Estate. The slogan suits the show’s workplace comedy because the employees spend their days surrounded by paper, sales routines and office bureaucracy, while many of their personal lives appear stuck in place.

The wording is often misremembered as “stationery for life,” but that reverses the phrase and loses the joke. “Stationery” means writing materials such as paper and envelopes; “stationary” means not moving. The company’s name and slogan therefore reinforce the series’ paper-office setting.

Created and written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the British series follows David Brent and his staff at Wernham Hogg’s Slough branch. The premise establishes the fictional firm before the story turns to office rivalries, awkward management and the relationships among Tim, Dawn and their colleagues.