Job Promotion: Is It Written All Over You?


I like playing with language. As a teen I listened to a lot of my family’s comedy records, and I found myself especially drawn to my sister’s George Carlin albums for his passion for words.

Likewise, as a cartoonist, I’m constantly on the lookout for phrases, idioms, and slang that I can examine more closely or poke holes in.

This cartoon came after a particularly agonizing writing session where nothing was coming to me. One of my tricks in that situation is to get one of my idiom dictionaries off the shelf and page through it quickly to kickstart my head.

I ran across the phrase “written all over his face” which thankfully suggested a number of visual puns, and after some cajoling, my brain finally gave me a decent cartoon.

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Mark Anderson, professional cartoonistAbout the Author: Mark Anderson’s cartoons appear in publications including The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review. Anderson is the creator of the popular cartoon website, Andertoons.com, where he licenses his cartoons for presentations, newsletters and other projects. He blogs at Andertoons blog.

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Mark Anderson Mark Anderson's cartoons appear in publications including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review. His business cartoons are available for licensing at his website, Andertoons.com.

5 Reactions
  1. Very humorous cartoon. In these times, we are definitely seeing new tactics and ideas on how to get a promotion or a job. Thanks for the smile.

  2. I have heard about promotion campaigns that have including having “branded” the participants with a fake tattoo on their bodies.

    Mark: Talking about masters of language, have you heard about Victor Borge? I have seen him a couple of times here in Sweden. Please read my post, Heroes of Capitalism, for more information. (Click on “Martin Lindeskog” Says:) HoC site did write a post on Victor Borge later on.

    Have a nice weekend! 🙂

  3. RedHotFranchises

    Thanks for the smiles, i love how you can make anything humorous!

  4. This reminds me of those goofy people who auction off their foreheads – agreeing to wear some company’s brand for 6 mos in the form of a temporary tattoo.

  5. Love it!