Book collection celebrating 15 years of Marketoonist

This Week's Cartoon

Do Something cartoon

Do Something

There’s a counter-intuitive Buddhist line that has stuck with me: “Don’t just do something, sit there.” It’s particularly useful in times of uncertainty or even panic, when the temptation is to follow the herd, or take action for the sake of taking action.  Sometimes the best action to take on a situation is no action at all.   For me,… Read More

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Cartoon Powered Marketing

Most Recent Cartoons

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs cartoon

Maslow’s Hierarchy

In last week’s cartoon, I parodied some of my favorite clichés in marketing presentation slides.   With just six panels in that cartoon, I had to leave a lot on the cutting room floor.  One of my other favorite used and abused slides is the ever-present framework, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.  Psychologist Abraham Maslow first proposed this theory in a… Read More

Marketing Planning cartoon

Marketing Planning

Marketing plans too often sound alike, even for completely different brands in completely different industries with completely different objectives.  I’ve tried to capture a few common marketing plan slide clichés in this cartoon, but marketing plans can easily swell to hundreds of slides and appendices.  They often take the form of what Garr Reynolds once dubbed the “slide-ument” — an… Read More

The AI Pivot cartoon

The AI Pivot

What a difference a year (or even a few months) makes.   Just last January, I drew a cartoon showing a couple marketers (as legless avatars) standing in a virtual world under a banner that reads, “welcome to our brand experience in the metaverse!”  One is saying to the other, “I’m sure consumers will show up ANY minute now.” The… Read More

AI-Generated Sameness cartoon

AI-Generated Sameness

Ian Whitworth recently described AI-generated content as “infinite words nobody wants.”  He observed: “ChatGPT is here to make us all the same… The Great Same-ening is upon us… “ChatGPT, Jasper and all the rest are powerful conformity machines, giving you the ability to churn out Bible-length material about yourself and your business that’s exactly the same as your competitors.” That’s… Read More

How Not to Pitch the CFO cartoon

Marketing to the CFO

Whenever budgets are under scrutiny, marketing is one of the first items on the chopping block. Those conversations are more difficult when marketing and finance speak a different language.  One of the most important target audiences that marketers need to learn how to market to is their own CFO. I’ve always liked the brand management school of marketing training because… Read More

Evolution of Smart Products cartoon

Evolution of Smart Products

One of the most popular cartoons I ever drew was about the Internet of Things, right after Google announced the acquisition of Nest in early 2014. “I think my Nest smoke alarm is going off,” one character tells another.  “Google Adwords just pitched me a fire extinguisher and an offer for temporary housing.” iRobot later proved that truth is stranger… Read More

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