A long time ago, in a galaxy without Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and (gasp) no Google…
I was reading Garfield comics on dead trees (paper books). Yep I was in elementary school and enjoyed a good laugh at the fat cat.
Last weekend I was tired but not sleepy so I decided to Google Garfield. And up popped the Garfield website.
Two things caught my eye
- Garfield is still targeted towards kids
- I can read comics for free without killing trees
So I started reading the comics. Some comics were rehashing old material. Some comics (almost) showed character development as the main character Jon finally found a girlfriend. And I laughed (ROTFL?).
Garfield comic: November 12, 2008
Then the sciency part of me kicked in and I asked myself Am I so immature that I still laugh at the same things I did in elementary school? Or does the Garfield comic work on multiple levels?
Then I looked at the Garfield website again with new eyes. Plenty of cartoon graphics for kids. Some advertising for adults: sign up for Vonage, virtual web hosting, give me your money…
Perhaps some of the comics work on two levels
- facial expression changes and cute graphics for the kids
- words in the captions: rating a girlfriend on how fast she can pluck a chicken for those in the dating scene
Out of curiosity, how many urban kids know what “plucking a chicken” entails?
How can a website for kids be “safe” when it includes advertising from a third-party?
Things that make me go “Hmm…” now that I am not in elementary school.
Image source: http://garfield.com/comics/todayscomic.html on November 12, 2008
Page backwards or search for November 12, 2008.
Great questions!
Makes me think two things:
1) I always want to control all of my content, including the ads!. A bad ad on my site makes me look bad. No thanks.
2) Content aimed at kids increasingly has “subversive” content for adults. The idea is this: your child is watching Shrek, but so are you – so let’s stick things in there that are way over a kid’s head, but hit mom and dad.
Hi Justin,
I totally forgot about the movie connection. This would be a great way to hang out with my nephews and nieces.