If you've been following our exposés, you might suppose you've already seen the most prevalent pig mascots. Perhaps you're thinking of Lumpy, with at least 17 tokens. Or maybe Pig Out, with at least 18. But they are as nothing compared to this, our latest and greatest installment! Feast your eyes on this cornucopia of suicidefoodist cloning!
(From left to right, by row: KKC Barbeque Company, Cape BBQ Fest, Up in Smoke BBQ; Bixby BBQ n' Blues Festival, Bullock's Bar-B-Cue, Dillon County Chamber of Commerce BBQ Contest; Kennesaw's Pigs & Peaches BBQ Contest, Butt Lovers BBQ, JD's Barbecue; New Jersey State Barbecue Championship, Speak E-Z's, Biffle's Smoke House; Bub-Ba-Q, Stone Mountain BBQ Cook-off, Hog Heaven; Winelands Pork, Carolina Q Cup, Gourmet Pig Roast; Hansen Meat Service, Nugget Rib Cook-off, "Just Ask George" [thanks to Dr. shidoshi for the referral and photo]; The Giggly Pig, Pig Roast and Shore Lunch, Georgia Bar B Cue Association; Henry's Hog Roast [thanks to Dr. BJ for the referral and photo], Restaurant 28 Catering, Masterpiece Bar-B-Que; 10th Annual BBQ Cookoff, Uncle Redd's [thanks to Dr. Deepfriedkudzu for the photo]; TNT Southern Bar-BQ, Longcross Arks, McFrankenboo BBQ.)
Now, we know what you're thinking. The breadth, the scope, the numbing repetition! It's overwhelming! Well, prepare to be overwhelmeder!
Because this is only the beginning. Something has been nagging at us for a good long time about this pig—we'll call him Ubi, short for ubiquitous. We couldn't get over the feeling that, even though we have uncovered example after example of him, in varying degrees of customization, there was more to the story.
And then it hit us like a plate of pork. (Barf.)
Exposé 3, starring Ta-Da! At the time of this writing, we have unearthed 17 specimens. Here, take a look at a couple.
Don't you see?Ta-Da! is Ubi. Ubi is Ta-Da! They are one. We are looking at the mightiest confluence of clip-art, folk art, and barbecue meme the world has ever known! It's almost like the Unified Field Theory, drawing together every strand of the Suicidefoodist Movement!
And it happened in our lifetime.
Addendum: Opinion at headquarters is divided, but doesn't there appear to be some Ubi influence in this, as well? (The image, by the way, is for a dogpark.)
Addendum 2 (10/18/09): The 50th example of Ubi/Ta-Da!Addendum 3 (10/25/09): Two from the German-speaking world, coming in at #51 and #52. One advertises a Metzgerei (butcher's shop), and the other a "suckling pig paradise!"
Addendum 4 (10/26/09): This thing's gone global!
Addendum 5 (11/21/09): For number 54, Ubi lounges on an airplane so that he might be delivered—fresh!—directly to your mouth.
Addendum 6 (2/19/10): Fifty-five. Okay, we get the point.
Addendum 7 (4/25/10): We're calling it. Number 56. It's iffy, but the general shape of the snout and ears, not to mention the sparse head hairs, sealed the deal for us.
Addendum 8 (10/06/10): #57.
Addendum 8 (10/16/10): For number 58, we go back south of the border.Addendum 9: With appearances 59–63, Ubi cements his reputation as the hardest-working pig in the dying business!
4 comments:
It must be an image from some clip art library somewhere. Looking at them all put on a page like this, the endlessly repeated image somehow reminds me of the sheer monotony of most animal-consuming people's diets. They rotate the same four or five main dishes over and over, just as Ubi reappears over and over in the packaging and advertising of the products they buy. It's ironic that omnivores think of a vegan's diet as being "restrictive," when to my mind it seems that the range of foods omnivores generally eat is far more restrictive than my diet is. Thanks for compiling this!
I can solve the riddle of the clip art Pig! It's not clip art at all but many BBQ places think it's copyright free. It actually belongs to the works of legendary animator Preston Blair. Many years ago he did a series of three "how to animate" books for the famous Walter Foster line. All three Blaire books are still available in one softbound edition called "Cartoon Animation" by Preston Blaire. If you look in the lower right corner of page 54 BINGO! there's your BBQ Pig! The little doggy head is on page 24.
When I was a kid this book was my bible. I can spot a Preston Blair rip-off anywhere in the world.
Preston Blair has been ripped off for 50 years, mostly by BBQ joints but also by the occasional lock smith. The pig is by far the most popular with his bulldog (page 70) coming in at a close second.
If we wanted to have some REAL fun we'd contact Walter Foster Publishing and then start a crusade against the meat peddlers you've listed here as they are clearly at fault for copyright infringement. Could it be possible that WE might clear this piggy's good name??! What if these establishments had to come up with original pig art?
Dave, your comment rises to the level of investigative journalism and we thank you!
We remember Walter Foster how-to-draw books from our childhood. (There was a whiskery, big-nostrilled cartoon horse that we practiced over and over.)
It's nice to know that the dog's resemblance to the pig was not all in our heads!
The 'new' Whislte Pig (Niagara Falls) also uses this logo.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Niagara-Falls-NY/New-Whistle-Pig/237912023002
The 'old' Whistle pig just has a boring whistling pig.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3179/2498088864_d6f215851f.jpg?v=0
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