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 By Larry Bodine, Esq., a business development advisor based in Glen Ellyn, IL. With the Apollo Business Development Program, he has helped law firms nationwide get new clients and generate millions of dollars of new revenue. He can be reached at 630.942.0977 and www.larrybodine.com.
Audra Callanan has done it again. Following in her tradition of creating Mad magazine holiday cards and prescription-style candy pills to comprehend a Boston accent, she convinced her firm to send out wicked funny Thanksgiving cards featuring Abraham Lincoln holding a chunk of pumpkin pie on a gigantic fork. Kudos to Audra, the Marketing Director of Hamilton Brook Smith & Reynolds in Concord, MA, for using humor and creativity to break out from the clutter of holiday greeting cards.
The firm engaged C.F. Payne, who has been called America's best-known contemporary illustrator, to create the jocular knockoff of Grant Wood's famous 1930 painting, "American Gothic." HBS&R has 50 attorneys, patent agents and technology specialists who represent independent inventors, start-up companies and Fortune 500 companies, as well as academic and research institutions. The firm is fully equipped with a sense of humor, a refreshing quality in these hard times.
An example of the slyness of Audra's comic mind is her LinkedIn listing, which displays a previous job as:
Warehouse Basketball Coordinator
Dunder Mifflin, Inc., (Scranton Branch)
Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Business Supplies and Equipment industry March 1992 – March 1992 (1 month)
Served in a variety of capacities including, but not limited to, the party planning committee and in-house sensitivity training task group.
How much of the symbolism can you figure out? Can you identity of the lamb-holding wife, comprehend the meaning of the house address "9" (right above the giant piece of pie), or know why a goggle-eyed Abe Lincoln is in the picture? What is the meaning of the giant windmills on the hills? Where is the firm logo?
 Join the club if you head straight for the answer key, which is set out below:
(1) Sarah Josepha Hale
This New Englander is considered by many to be the individual most responsible for making Thanksgiving a national holiday in the United States. She conducted letter-writing campaigns to persuade four consecutive U.S. presidents -- Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan -- to elevate the strictly New England celebration to one of national stature. Hale's fifth attempt was successful when her letter convinced Abraham Lincoln to support legislation establishing a national holiday of thanksgiving in 1863.
An author and editor, Hale is widely credited with writing the children's nursery rhyme, "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Coincidentally, lamb chops are not staple Thanksgiving fare.
(2) Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the only U.S. president to hold a patent. He was issued Patent No. 6,469 on May 22, 1849, for a device for "Buoying Vessels Over Shoals." An early advocate of innovation, Lincoln declared the introduction of patent laws one of the three most important developments "in the world’s history," along with the discovery of America and the advancements of printing.
(3) Pumpkin Pie
Facts surrounding pumpkin pie, or any pie for that matter, are so numerous and awe-inspiring that we settled on a select few (Source: American Pie Council. No, we are not kidding):
- Pumpkin pie was first introduced at the Pilgrims' second Thanksgiving in 1623.
- At one time it was against the law in Kansas to serve ice cream on cherry pie.
- Boston cream pie is a cake, not a pie.
- If you were to line up the number of pies sold at U.S. grocery stores during Thanksgiving, they would span more than half the globe.
- Other common names for a pie are pastie, oggie, piraski, pirogie, and pi.
(4) Firm Logo
Shameless attempt at subliminal advertising.
(5) Why Number "9"
Red Sox fan litmus test.
(6) USPTO Sees "Green"
A 2008 study reported the use of the word "green" had more than doubled in U.S. trademark filings from 2006 to 2007. Many attribute the increase to an upsurge in eco-friendly products, services, and brands. Those in elite culinary circles ascribe the increase to the industry's movement promoting gastronomic advancements of molded lime-green gelatin side dishes.
(7) Property Fence
Old-fashioned version of "MySpace” |
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