According to a recent press release, one of the world’s most recognizable female cartoon characters is about to set a first, so some will have us believe. Marge Simpson, wife and mother of America’s favorite dysfunctional family is going to pose for the November issue of Playboy magazine.
Marge is being reported as “the first cartoon character ever” to be featured on the cover of Playboy. This is well hyped and not surprisingly the reaction to this event has been varied and heated, but is it accurate?
Not really. According to a flood of responses, it seems Leroy Neiman’s “Femlin” cartoon character was the first cartoon character to be featured (in August 1960) and was subsequently featured many times. Some say that a Playmate dressed as Jessica Rabbit took the honor in their November 1988 issue … we argue that’s not really a cartoon character so much as someone dressed up as a cartoon character.
What do you think … should Marge be doing business with Playboy?
Graham Mulvein at Cochlear UK got in touch with us wanting a new character to help communicate what can be somewhat dry information about their technology. For those of you who are unaware, Cochlear makes incredible ear implants that, well … here’s what wikipedia as to say about the cochlear implant:
A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing. The cochlear implant is often referred to as a bionic ear. Unlike hearing aids, the cochlear implant does not amplify sound, but works by directly stimulating any functioning auditory nerves inside the cochlea with an electric field.
Pretty cool right!? This technology is giving hearing to millions of people and it was up to our artists to create a new mascot for Cochlear that was fun, kept the spirit of the Cochlear branding and their mission. In the end Grahame and his team settled on this little fella. Check him out!
