For our first-ever interview, we made a real score: a leading light in the world of suicide food, a top-notch practitioner of the craft, someone you already know. Not by name probably, but by reputation. You've seen his work on this site. The cigar-smoking pig here, for instance, and this oft-mentioned specimen are two of his creations.He was kind enough to answer our questions. We think you will find his answers enlightening and, in some cases, mighty puzzling.
(Citing the "extremists" who might visit us here, he preferred that we not use his full name or reveal his site's address. And so he will be referred to simply as Patrick.)
Suicide Food: How long have you been creating BBQ logos?
Patrick: About 4 years now.
Suicide Food: How many BBQ logos would you say you've created?
Patrick: I've probably created close to 1,000 logos.
Suicide Food: Why BBQ logos? What drove you to become the BBQ Logo King?
Patrick: I fell into the BBQ logos quite by accident. It began with one logo and that client posted it on a BBQ website and generated a lot of interest from other BBQ teams. Slowly, I began to get more requests for the logos until, now, it makes up about a third of my freelance cartooning career. I do more than just BBQ logos, however. Website mascots, children's books, and cartoon advertising are some other things that I do. BBQ logos just happen to be the most well-known part of my work.
Suicide Food: Have you ever been asked to draw something you felt was too extreme?
Patrick: I've never turned down a BBQ logo due to its content.
Suicide Food: What do you think would make one of these logos too extreme?
Patrick: All of the requests have been in good taste. Most of my clients don't take the logos too seriously and want something that's humorous and fun that they can make shirts and banners from for their particular group. I have had a couple of non-BBQ logos that I've turned down, however. Pornographic material and anything that's blatantly disrespectful to God would be things that I would decline. I was once asked to create a logo for a satanic website. I politely said, “No.”
Suicide Food: Don’t you think some of the logos that are disrespectful to animals could be seen as disrespectful to God’s creation?
Patrick: These logos have nothing to do with respect or lack of respect for animals. They're cartoons. Simple cartoons that are meant to be fun to look at and hopefully bring a smile to someone's face. It's no different from watching a Roadrunner cartoon.
Suicide Food: What do you think of suicidefood (the blog, that is)?
Patrick: My first impressions of the blog was a bit confused. I wasn't sure how to take it. I couldn't tell if it was a "militant vegetarian" site or something more humorous. The more I looked, I decided that it was done in fun. I was quite surprised when I found some of my logos on the site!
Suicide Food: What's your impression of vegans, in general? Do you understand how they might see your work?
Patrick: I, personally, am a meat-eater. Always have been, always will be. I can understand how someone would want to keep their diet pure of all the stuff they put into foods these days but I do think there is value in having meat in your diet. I think if you eat smart, don't overindulge all the time, and exercise, eating meat is perfectly fine and healthy for you.
Suicide Food: How do you feel about the other things that motivate many vegetarians and vegans? Like not wanting to harm or exploit animals?
Patrick: Do we fault a shark for eating a fish? Do we blame a tiger for attacking and killing a gazelle? No. They have to eat. So do humans. Animals are food, so we eat them.
[End of interview.]
We will ignore the fact that tigers don't actually attack and kill gazelles—hey, Patrick's an artist, not a zoologist—and instead look at some of the arguments. Carnivores eat other animals, and humans penning up livestock by the millions and subjecting them to agonizing lives, and slaughtering them by the billions is essentially the same thing. And, of course, animals really are only food. We've revealed this strain of thought present in the suicidefoodist movement many, many times.
We confess to a certain disappointment at discovering that this great agent of the Movement is just a man, prone to the same misapprehensions as most meat-eaters appear to be.
