The Truth About Cats and Dogs

Our goal was to be eye-catching. Sorry if we scared you.

by Brian Howard

Let's clear the air, shall we? No kittens were harmed in the making of last week's Election Issue. But you already knew that, right? During the meetings in which we wrestled with how to make an unsexy cover package pop out of the box, we threw a lot of stuff against the wall. We considered "The Bawdy Politic." We pondered "Pol Position" and, briefly, "The Rep Schlep." We spent an inordinate amount of time debating the merits and demerits of "The Election Kool-Aid Acid Test." Yes, we are gluttons for puns around here. And then we hit on it: Election Kitty. The concept wed news editor Jeffrey Billman's long-unconsummated yearning to spoof National Lampoon's famous 1973 "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog" issue to art director Reseca Peskin's unsatiated desire to put her cat on the cover. (Res had waged a compelling but unsuccessful campaign to make the cover of last summer's Carolyn Wyman-penned Cheesesteak Issue an image of Zoe licking Whiz.)

Some folks loved it (CP contrib/pa2010.com blogger Dan Hirschhorn dubbed it "Best newspaper cover ever"). Some, eh, not so much. Based on numerous calls, letters and intertubez comments, some people didn't get the joke. Others got it but did. Not. Appreciate. It. Our readers, God bless 'em, rarely hesitate to let us know when they think we've crossed a line. Longtime reader Paula Spielberg called to say (quite politely, I'll add), "I don't think it was cute. Even though we know it's a joke, in these times when there's so much animal cruelty around, even the hint of it is inappropriate. ... I think you could have thought of a cleverer way of getting your point across." A reader named Marsha was less restrained, calling the cover "incredibly obnoxious. ... For people who are animal lovers, this is incredibly distasteful, beyond distasteful, and certainly hurts Joe Sestak. So I am horrified and appalled that you've done this," she spat into her phone.

I suspect these folks will not be comforted to know that the "gun" we used on the cover was actually a 2-D cutout of a picture of a gun; and that the look of abject terror in Zoe's eyes was the product of some Photoshop manipulation. Our goal was to be eye-catching. Sorry if we scared you.

Flyered Up

About a month and a half ago, I wrote in a Clog post on the timing of the trade of Donovan McNabb to the Washington Racist-Nameds, "The Eagles have lost a huge chunk of sporting mindshare in this city in recent years and they're one deep Flyers post-season run away from being the No. 3 team in town." I got a little blowback on the assertion that the Eagles have lost mindshare in this town. What do you think now?

(bhoward@citypaper.net)