Here’s this month’s “Pen Avenue” cartoon for “Print,” Pittsburgh’s East End newspaper. A few weeks ago, I asked followers on Facebook and Mastodon if they remembered a long-running ad campaign with the tag line, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.”
Not only did an overwhelming number of people remember the slogan, they also remembered the product (Pantene shampoo) and the model who appeared in the original TV commercials (Kelly LeBrock). Not bad for an ad campaign that originally appeared in the 1980s and was last resurrected for a while in 2019.
(In fact, some of my male followers who grew up in the 1980s — and undoubtedly a few female ones as well — said that LeBrock left quite an impression on them during their teen-age years. I leave the details to your imagination.)
I thought I’d also show you the intermediate steps I used before sending the final cartoon. Here’s the rough sketch I sent to the editor of Print, Ann Belser:
“I don’t get it,” she said. “I like the dog, though.”
So I simplified the Scottish brogue to be closer to the original tag line, at which point Ann asked me if people would remember it, and get the joke. Hence the question I posted on social media.
Here’s the finished ink art, before being colorized and lettered in Photoshop:
Print is not available online; you can only read it in (what else?) print. It’s available at Giant Eagle and other stores in Pittsburgh’s East End, or subscribe on the website.