Friday, April 20, 2007

Sausages from Auvergne

Leave it to the French to deliver the first five-noose image in Suicide Food history! (Take heart, America. They're Europeans—they've been at this culture business a lot longer than we have.)
"You'll eat with pleasure, and... without fatigue: the good sausages of the BOUNTEOUS PIG!
Sausages from Auvergne. Absolute Alimentary Purity."
Also noteworthy is that this image, supposedly from a more traditional time, manages to turn suicidefoodism on its head. Typically, the doctrine calls for the assuaging of guilt, the dismissal of regret. But here! Here, the suicidal pig is deliberately inflicting a lifetime of nightmares on generations of children.

The cochon malade is no meek suicide cutting his wrists in the tub so no one will have to bother cleaning up after him. No, clearly, this one is making a Statement. His evil smile says it all: If reducing himself to lurid, bloody slices while you watch is the only way he can cause you pain, that's a small price. C'est la vie!

A final, disquieting question: To whom did the huge animal wedges on which the pig stands once belong?

(Thanks to Drs. Elizabeth, Matt, Karl, and Ehren for the referral.)







Addendum (5/18/10): Something wonderful unpleasant has happened! More than three years after this post appeared, someone has created an embroidered version of the most famous self-harming pig in the world! (Thanks to Dr. Erika for the news.)

24 comments:

Unknown said...

I note that nobody ever said much about Charlie the Tuna wanted to be chopped up for Starkist's product.

Anonymous said...

"Thrifty pig"? Prodigue literally translates to prodigal, which is the opposite of thrifty...

Ben said...

Pardon the mistranslation. It is now corrected.

I thank you.

Bemused Bewilderments said...

Where did the original image come from?

-dan

Anonymous said...

Check out this turkey festival site. I know you'll have a thing or two to say about it.

broadcasting from a knitting parlour said...

That is just about the creepiest ad I have ever seen. The huge slices - the "stage" - mmm...bountiful, indeed! Can't you assign this one more nooses. Like, 11 or 12?

Anonymous said...

Those aren't sausages, they're just pig cross-sections! They should have spinal cord, thoracic arteries, intestinal contents, the works. And it can't be hygeinic to have the livestock stand on them. And how is it possible he was able to cut more than one full slice through his own body without collapsing, not only due to shock and blood loss, but because his upper bottom is now disconnected from his lower! Make it stop!!

Unknown said...

That's hilarious!

Liz said...

My mission is complete. I was hoping this would make 5 nooses. Thanks for the great site. (btw, I'm doing my dissertation on animal rights in France. So this kind of sums it up.)

Bob said...

Here's one for you. These comercials used to be so popular that the TV stations had to announce when they would show them.

http://www.valleydale.com/company/archive.html

Anonymous said...

Once I toured a hog-slaughter plant in France. Interior spaces in France are generally a lot smaller than in the USA, and this plant was no exception. We got a lot more up close and personal with the dead hogs than we wanted to. At one point the foreman had to hold back a dangling corpse to make a passageway for us, as if he were holding back a curtain.

Saurbaum said...

This is on the wall in my local sandwich shop near work.

Phillpots in Birmingham for people who want to go see it.

Anonymous said...

Seems sort of important to mention it's not literally "fatigue"--in this sense I think it means you never get bored of it. Fatigue means tired, but can also have a double meaning like in English.
Great site though :)

Anonymous said...

Good note about Charlie Tuna above; as a wee one, I used wonder what the hell was wrong with that guy that he wanted to be sandwich spread. I remember that strange mix of bewilderment and frustration I felt as he tried to get sent to the processing plant :-/

JohnnyRidden said...

This looks more like it should come from Japan, honestly. Seppuku-brand pork!

Anonymous said...

Re: what the heck the pig is standing on

Perhaps it is a baby pig standing on a big pig's sausage.

Anonymous said...

This should have had a sixth noose. It is utterly discusting and revolting. How could anyone in a healthy and right mind come up with an image like that. The pig is swuealing with blis as he joyfully and completely commits suicide. The Saw series is less grusome than this. At least there people aren't volentarily killing themselves, and the villain would teach his victems the value of life. That just makes me want to throw up.

Katherine said...

The cross sections look like head cheese.

Anonymous said...

And the Reign of Terror continues...

Unknown said...

check this -- http://xza.us/pigcut.jpg

i just got this tattooed on me a few days ago. the photo was taken about an hour after i got it, so excuse the redness.

Ben said...

You just broke my mind.

Red said...

They are sausages. In Northern France, andouille de vire is a specialty sausage made from...intestines, ladies and gentlemen. Dried, aged intestines. Auvergne is one of the areas where this stuff is popular (so is Park Slope, as of late).

And the sliced andouille looks just like the slices in the picture.

Anonymous said...

Just had Sausage Auvergne in a cafe in Paris. It was great. Went back later in the week for round two.

Don't want to want to eat Sausage Auvergne? Don't order it. Leae the rest of us alone.

Anonymous said...

Yum , yum , sizzle me some !