Sunday, September 19, 2021

Personna Advertising Art by Whitney Darrow, Jr.

Aside from his calling as a cartoonist, The New Yorker's Whitney Darrow, Jr., produced a great quantity of commercial work. An undated drawing commissioned by the Leo Burnett Advertising Agency of Chicago some time between 1956 and 1980 was created for the client Personna, purveyor of high-end razor blades.

The drawing doesn't make all that much sense outside of the context of whatever ad copy it must have appeared with. A man in an apron prominently bearing the name of the Iowa Tanning Co. is chasing a football-shaped pig's head, quite plausibly a play on the word pigskin. Overhead, a couple observes from a propeller plane while the woman waves. On the ground, a small but excited quartet of onlookers shouts "Eureka!" One of these folks seems to be wearing a marching band uniform adorned with the letter Y. The tanner's face is clean-shaven, although his stubbly legs could conceivably relate to the shaving product. His sporting uniform includes a plaid cap, which seems deliberately retro.
 
"Champert, enraged, started kicking his little pigskin blimp all over the place."

"Champert, enraged, started kicking his little pigskin blimp all over the place."



Whitney Darrow, Jr
eBay listing ended July 1, 2021
Whitney Darrow, Jr
eBay item description




Note:  Original art by Whitney Darrow, Jr., is always of interest.


January 7, 2023 Update:  I have come to believe that this artwork may actually be an illustration for the column "On Campus with Max Shulman" rather than advertising art for Personna razor blades.


I'm still looking for either the Personna print ads or "On Campus with Max Shulman" columns that correspond to Darrow's original art.


April 8, 2023 Update:  And here it is! But there's a clearer image below.

https://www.industrydocuments.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/#id=mzvv0004






"Champert, enraged, started kicking his little pigskin blimp all over the place."

"Champert, enraged, started kicking his little pigskin blimp all over the place."



"Football for Shut-Ins"
On Campus with Max Shulman
The Winonan

Winona State College, Winona, MN, November 16, 1967, p. 3






03754

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