One Big Family
May 5th, 2025 Barry Posted in Labor rights & Unions | No Comments »
Check out the timelapse drawing video for this cartoon!
TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON
This cartoon has four panels, plus a tiny “kicker” panel under the bottom of the fourth panel.
PANEL 1
An executive type leans against his desk as he smiles and talks to us.
EXEC: At our company, nothing matters more than our employees!
PANEL 2
The same executive is now outdoors, holding a shovel next to a hole for a tree that’s to be planted.
EXEC: Treating every worker as a partner in the company isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s good business!
PANEL 3
The executive, still grinning and talking to us, is now in a corporate mailroom. A worker with a nametag stands next to him, smiling, and he has an avuncular hand on her shoulder.
EXEC: From board members like me to the folks in the mailroom, we’re all one big family.
PANEL 4
The worker, still smiling, has turned to talk to the exec. He smiles at her, but it’s sadistic looking.
WORKER: That’s great to hear! Because we’ve decided to start a union!
EXEC: Go jump in a meat grinder.
TINY KICKER PANEL AT THE BOTTOM
The exec talks to Barry the cartoonist.
EXEC: What I meant was, nothing matters more than our employees… knowing their place.
CHICKEN FAT WATCH
“Chicken fat” is yea olde cartoonists’ term for unimportant details hidden in a cartoon.
PANEL 1 – There are framed portraits of Daddy Warbucks and The Monopoly Man on the wall. There’s a corpse hidden behind the desk. The mug on the desk says “I ♥ $.” The front of the desk has two panels with fancy embedded art, the left panel showing a dog with a halo, and the right panel showing a cat with devil horns.
PANEL 2 – While the Exec’s shovel is perfectly clean, there’s a sweaty worker in the background with a dirt-covered shover. Albert Einstein is inside the hole in the tree. There’s a realistic duck near the hole, but it’s wearing Uncle Scrooge’s glasses and top hat. An evil bunny is on the right of the panel, smoking a cig and carrying a knife.
PANEL 3 – The shelves on the left contain a live rat, a human hand (or maybe it’s Thing from the Addams Family), a mug with a picture of a cracking egg, an eyeball, and a book with the title “Background.” The shelves on the right contain a decapitated head (who looks unhappy) and a box with a “this way up” arrow pointed down.
There are two posters on the wall. The first says “DIVERSITY is against company policy. Report any seen to management. All hail Trump.” The second has an illustration of a Kiwi, and the words “NOTICE. Do not accidently mail yourself to New Zealand. They’re on to that trick.”
PANEL 4 – The shelves on the left now contain a goldfish in a bowl, who is smoking a cig. A little birthday cupcake with a lit candle. And the mug’s picture now shows a hatched egg with a baby bird. The shelf on the left now has a human skull where the decapitated head was, and the arrow on the box is labeled “down” but is pointing up.
The first poster says “NOTICE. Hey you! The person bothering to read the tiny background text. You are awesome! You’re smart and swell and everyone agrees you smell good.” The second poster has an illustration of a smiling, friendly looking sun. The words say “I WORK AT THE INSPIRATIONAL POSTER FACTORY,” then in smaller print “where every day we pray today will be the day the sun explodes.”
