Friday, April 20, 2007

Festival of Cruelty

In our research, we often come across images that, repellent as they may be, do not conform to the definition of suicide food. These pictures represent not suicide food—with its sick and disturbed self-sacrificing lambs—but murder food. What is most often on display is utter contempt for the animals represented, a vile hatred that cannot be excused with the automatic "Can't you take a joke?"

And so here, to celebrate Suicide Food's having passed its 50th post, we bring you the Festival of Cruelty! "Enjoy" these sterling examples of man's naked inhumanity.



Kick-Ass BBQ: Evil tong-wielding gentleman kicks terrified pig into open flame after branding "Smoke Me" on its hindquarters. I think we can all agree that's funny.







Prairie Pork-Pullers Association Picnic: What needs to be said here? These good ol' boys are gonna teach Piggy a lesson. By the time they reach the picnic, that damn pig will wish he had never been born and, um, eaten corn, and... made those snuffling sounds. He didn't think he could actually get away with that, did he? Okay, wait. What the hell!



DrChuckies BBQ: It appears that "doctor" Chuckie is a graduate of the Mengele School of Medicine. Are we witnessing an act of "medical" torture? Revenge? Simple barbarity? More to the point: Who comes up with these logos? Cigar-smoking mafioso masquerading as a doctor, a giant syringe, and a chicken so scared his eyes are bursting... Sure, that'll move product. I say we run with it.










Harold's The Fried Chicken King: Get 'er, Harold! This chef is so full of murderous glee he is actually quivering. The poor chicken is acting on universal instinct here, just trying to stay one step ahead of the axe. But Harold won't quit. His compulsions won't let him. His own demons have transformed him into one himself. And these demons demand blood. They demand guts. They demand it all. So run, chicken. You won't get far.

6 comments:

rj said...

Along with the mind-blowing cruelty of the Prairie Pork-Pullers Association Picnic logo, there is an absolutely mind-boggling racism.

Not only is the pig being dragged behind the truck in the same fashion as James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, TX, but they made sure to use a hyphen in "pic-nic," which I can't help but think is a reference to an oft-repeated yet fallacious claim that the word comes from an old southern tradition where crowds of white people would pick a random... well, think of an n-word that can be shortened to "nic," grab some meaty sammiches, and go out into the woods & fields to cheer on the lynching.
While not in fact true, it's a story that has struck a "truthy" chord with civil rights advocates and racists alike.

Unbelievable.

Anonymous said...

While I think arjunagreist has a point about the Prairie Pork-Pullers image, there may be a more benign interpretation of the pig-dragging. Perhaps the men driving the truck forgot to get a BBQ grill and have decided just to heat the pig with friction!

But really, I guess it probably is just thinly veiled racist crap.

...and what kind of men go around proudly calling themselves "pork-pullers"?

Anonymous said...

anonymous, you know what "pulled pork" is, right? If not, Google it, then order some next time you're in a BBQ place. It's great stuff (unless it's been sitting in a warmer for hours).

But you're right. It's a dumb name and an unbelievably offensive cartoon.

Anonymous said...

I am familiar with pulled pork, I just thought as you do that "pork-pullers" is a dumb name - likely an intentional double entendre which is supposed to be cool in some misguided way.

Pacifist Viking said...

When I see an image of a grinning, smoking doctor gleefully holding a gigantic syringe, my first thought is not "I'm terrified of this sadist with the gi-normous needle," but rather, "I'm hungry."

And when I saw the pork-puller's ad, the first thing I thought of were the racist connotations. It seems fairly obvious, and horrible.

Anonymous said...

The only thing I like about the Pork Pullers picture is the "Tew Mahls" distance on the sign. That's pretty funny.