Ladies and gentlemen, Pig Logo Exposé 3.
(Left to right, by row: 17th Street Bar & Grill, The Brick Pit, Wallace Barbecue, Abbotside Events, The Pig & Whistle Pub, Volusia County (Deland, Florida) Fair, miscellaneous bar-b-q, My Place Bar-B-Q, Hursey's Pig-Pickin' Bar-B-Q, Bates City Bar-B-Que, Save On Meats (source), Bovina Suina (source), Smoke Pit (source), unidentified German pork purveyor, Brett's BBQ, BBQ Bob's.)
We thought that Crotchy (the first exposé pig) and Pig Out (the second) were prevalent. But this pig—let's call him Ta-Da!—is truly ubiquitous. Coming out of the gate with 16 specimens! And that's before the masses chime in with their examples! Well, the mind reels.
Ta-Da must have been on the scene for a while—witness the considerable variety in his attested forms. Here are the hallmarks of the breed: arms upraised (when present), pigeon-toed trotters (when present), distinctive snout-swirl, and—the true touchstone—that left-side floppy ear.
Ta-Da's appropriators have been willing to modify him to a much greater extent than we've seen with other iconic pigs. He might be given a bunch of balloons to hold, or a tray or mug of beer; he might be aged (17th Street) or cutened up (Bovina Suina); he might be rendered as only a head; he might be given a chef's hat or napkin or sunglasses to wear. But underneath all the props, beneath all the refashioning, he's still our obsequious Ta-Da. Long may he shill for the pork-profiteers!
Again, we must ask: Why, especially when they are prepared to alter the image, why do they bother using such a well-traveled icon?
Addendum (12/26/2007): Well, that didn't take long. This post is only two days old, and already we've found another appearance of Ta-Da. Behold, the Englefeld (Saskatchewan) Hog Fest instantiation.
1 comment:
I'd say you're reaching for a few of these head-only ones. Is a floppy ear really so unusual? Seems like a pretty common pig characteristic to me.
The Smoke Pit one (next to Bovina Suina, on the bright red brick wall) looks crucified.
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