Chris Madden Cartoons

A searchable archive for licensing

Life coach guru cartoon. Only watch the news once a day

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Wise sayings cartoon. Only watch the news once a day

Cartoon about advice on how to live your life.
Life coach advice – only watch the news once a day.
The news as noise and the illusion of engagement

The cartoon shows a ‘lifestyle guru’ telling someone to only watch the news once a day.
Some people (myself included) watch the news far too often. One of the problems with the broadcast news on tv is that it is extremely superficial, especially when broadcast on a 24 hour rolling news channel. Watching the news sometimes gives the illusion that you are actively engaged in the news, however, we should really be doing other things instead, such as reading books and magazines that analyse and explain in greater depth the implications of the news events of the day. The news is ‘noise’.
This analysis of the news is similar to that put forward in the book by Alain de Botton, The News. The cartoon predates the book.

This cartoon is from a series about the phenomenon of gurus, personal counsellors, lifestyle coaches (a recent and rather ludicrous twist on the phenomenon of personal fulfilment), motivational speakers and suchlike. In the series the guru, counsellor or what-have-you is a very ordinary middle aged woman rather than someone who is removed from the humdrum of everyday life, and is meant to represent a parody of lifestyle advisers and self improvement gurus.

Cartoon about truth, knowledge, opinions, prejudice, bias, philosophy, lifestyle, lifestyle coaching, gurus, motivational speakers, therapy, counselling, current affairs, engagement in society.
Cartoon reference number: a127
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Birdwatching cartoon – and misuse of English cartoon (should it be less or fewer?)

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birdwatching cartoon and language cartoon

Birdwatching cartoon – and English usage cartoon

Birdwatching cartoon. Misuse of English cartoon.

A cartoon showing a father and son birdwatching. The father is correcting his son’s use of English – on seeing a lesser spotted woodpecker the son has mistakenly called it a fewer spotted woodpecker.
This isn’t just a cartoon about birdwatchers. It’s also a cartoon about linguistics and specifically English usage or misuse.
The mixing up of the words fewer and less is a common error.
Getting annoyed or irritated by the misuse of English, especially at the less/fewer level, is commonly seen as a sign of grumpy middle age.
The cartoon’s idea came to mind because of the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) Big Garden Birdwatch, an annual event in which people are encouraged to count the different garden birds that visit their gardens.
Cartoon reference number: a104
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Therapy cartoon. If you’re too happy perhaps you need therapy

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Cartoon - you're too contented - you need therapy

Psychotherapy (or just plain therapy) Cartoon. Happiness cartoon.

Therapy cartoon – showing a woman saying to her partner “I’m worried about how contented you seem – I think you need therapy”
She is over analysing people’s moods and even diagnosing happiness or being happy as a mental condition that requires treatment.

Happiness cartoon. A cartoon about the potential over use of therapy, analysis, counselling, psychology, psychiatry, psychotic states.
Cartoon reference number: a086

Child development cartoon. How to bring up the perfect child

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Cartoon - book on how to raise the perfect child

Cartoon showing an ambitious mother reading a book about how to raise the perfect child

Child development cartoon. An ambitious mother reading a book on child rearing called ‘How to Bring up the Perfect Child‘. The mother is saying to her child ‘Not now dear, I’m busy.’

A cartoon about child rearing, parenting skills, hothousing, developmental psychology, education, educational psychology, yummy mummy, yummy mummies, misdirected ambition, bad parenting.
Cartoon reference number: a085
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Child development cartoon – small boys are interested in dinosaurs, older boys are interested in girls

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child puberty development cartoon - dinosaurs are for kids

Child development cartoon – a small child looking at a picture of a dinosaur, and an older child looking at a photo of a naked young woman.

Child development cartoon. Cartoon showing how children’s interests change as they get older, especially as they enter puberty and adolescence.
The younger boy in the cartoon is looking at a picture of a dinosaur (as almost all young boys are interested in dinosaurs). The older (adolescent) boy is looking at a photograph of a naked young woman, and is dismissively looking down on the ‘childish’ interest in dinosaurs exhibited by the younger child. The older child is acting ‘grown up’.

A cartoon about child development, adolescence, puberty, emerging sexuality, childhood innocence, testosterone, hormones kicking in.
Cartoon reference number: a081
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Cartoon. Brain function in the elderly slower than in the young

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old people slow thinkers cartoon

A cartoon about the fact that older people are slower thinkers than young people. However, they are also deeper thinkers.

Cartoon. Old people are often dismissed as slower thinkers than the young (especially by the young). However, due to their maturity they are also deeper thinkers than the young. This depth of thought is often overlooked and ignored by the young (because younger people have more superficial thoughts).
In this cartoon the thoughts of older people are likened to the flowing of a great river as it nears the sea – slow and deep – with the thought processes of younger people being compared (by implication) to the rapid, shallow, tumultuous flow of streams nearer the river’s source.

Slower brian function is often equated with loss of brain function, however this doesn’t necessarily imply a simple correlation with inferior brain function.
Of course degenerative brian diseases are another matter.
A cartoon about diminishing brain function in the elderly, brain degeneration, mental skills, IQ tests, intelligence, brian function, wisdom, cognition, cognitive impairment.
Cartoon reference number: a060
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Cartoon – the difficulty for older people to understand modern technology

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Difficulty for older people using modern technology

Cartoon – the difficulty for older people to understand modern technology.

A woman having trouble programming a modern digital television tuner (or similar electronic device).
TYounger people adapt to using modern technology naturally (as they know nothing else).
The joke here is that the child who understands the new technology is a baby (who understands very little indeed in general).

A cartoon about child development, generational differences, generation gap, early learning, knowledge acquisition, technological illiteracy.
Cartoon reference number: a058

Parenting skills cartoon. Naughty step cartoon

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Naughty step cartoon

Naughty step cartoon. A cartoon about parenting and parenting skills.

Child psychology cartoon.
The naughty step is a child discipline technique of the ‘Supernanny’ school of child development.
The joke in this cartoon is that the technique has been applied by the mother to her husband as well as to her child.

A cartoon about child development, discipline, hen-pecked husbands, domineering wife.
Cartoon reference number: a057

Dieting cartoon – woman weighing herself on bathroom scales

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diet cartoon Heavy Towel

Dieting cartoon – a weight-conscious woman weighing herself and thinking that the towel she’s wearing must be very heavy.

Diet cartoon. A dieting person weighing herself on bathroom scales and being unhappy about her weight – and thinking that her weight on the scales must be higher than it really is because of the weight of a towel that she’s wearing.

A cartoon about obsession with weight, self-deception, obesity, anorexia, nutrition.
Cartoon reference number: a056

Cookery cartoon. Cook losing her temper while cooking a Gordon Ramsay recipe

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Cookery cartoon. Gordon Ramsay recipe

Cookery cartoon. Cook losing her temper while cooking a Gordon Ramsay recipe.

A cartoon about Gordon Ramsey and his bad language and temper.

The cartoon is funny because Gordon Ramsey is famous for swearing a lot, for using bad language and for having a bad temper. The humour lies in the fact that the cook seems to be taking on Gordon Ramsey’s personality traits as part of the cooking process. The cook is channelling Gordon Ramsey.
Cartoon reference number: a055

Football cartoon – football themed bedroom cartoon

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Football themed bedroom cartoon

Cartoon showing a person who has a football themed bedroom.

A cartoon based on the saying ‘Eat football, breathe football’ and its variations (such as ‘Eat football, breathe football, life football’)
The joke is that because the person in the cartoon has had a football themed make over in his bedroom, with all of the decor and decorations being football related, be can now ‘Eat football, breathe football and sleep football!’ .

A cartoon about sports fans, football fans, obsession with football, following football.
Cartoon reference number: a054

Nigerian email scam cartoon

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nigerian email scam cartoon

Nigerian email scam cartoon.

A cartoon showing a person who has answered Nigerian email scams that he has received – and has found that they are genuine.

The humour in the cartoon is due to the fact that the scam emails from Nigeria and elsewhere, often pretending to come from a bank employee or the wife of a recently deceased finance minister or similar wealthy person ar so obviously fraudulent that no one with any sense would take them seriously or assume that they were genuine.
A cartoon about internet fraud, scam emails, con men, con man, confidence tricksters, gullibility, credulousness.
Cartoon reference number: a053
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Cartoon. A possible danger of buying through ebay

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ebay car cartoon

Cartoon showing a second hand car bought on ebay. The car is a toy car but the buyer thought it was a full size, real sports car.

The ebay buyer is complaining that it’s hard to judge the size of objects when you see them on a computer screen.

A cartoon about internet sales, on-line marketing, deception, deceptive size.
The joke is that it’s impossible to judge goods properly when you buy them on line over the internet, especially through web-baased auction sites such as ebay.

Cartoon reference number: a049
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Wind power cartoon – reduce carbon emissions by attaching a wind turbine to a barbecue

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cartoon bbq powered by wind turbine

Environmental cartoon showing a barbecue powered by wind power instead of using charcoal – as a way of reducing carbon emissions.

Bbq cartoon- how to reduce your barbecue’s carbon footprint.

A cartoon encouraging people to reduce their carbon emissions and carbon footprint by using a wind turbine attached to a barbie.

Cartoon reference number: a046
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Diet cartoon – food fads and food intolerance

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food fad intolerance cartoon

Diet cartoon. A cartoon about gluten intolerance, lactose intolerance, dietary fashions and food fad intolerance.

A cartoon about food intolerance, showing a person who is gluten intolerant (and who is rejecting some bread), a person who is lactose intolerant (and who is rejecting some milk) and a person who is food fad intolerant (and who eating a plate full of food that is normally labelled as unhealthy).

A cartoon about food fads, health, dietary fads, ibs, irritable bowel syndrome, nutrition, allergies, allergy, allergic reactions, food scares.

Cartoon reference number: fd001b

Computer cartoon. Are computers intuitive to use?

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computer use intuitive cartoon

Learning how to use a computer – cartoon. A man saying to a woman that computers are totally intuitive to use.

A cartoon showing a person using a computer and another person teaching computing skills.

A cartoon showing the difference in approach to knowledge and technology by men and women. The woman is unsure of her ability while the man is arrogant and sure.
A cartoon about computers and gender differences.
Cartoon reference number: a034
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Internet dependence cartoon

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internet weather cartoon

Internet dependence cartoon. Using the internet unnecessarily to find out something you can find in easier ways.

A cartoon showing a person using the internet to research information that doesn’t need the internet for the research.

A cartoon about the way that people are becoming over reliant on computers and the internet.
The fact that the person is looking at the weather on the internet is meant to point out that people are staying indoors in front of their computers rather than going outside.
An unhealthy aspect of computer use.
This version drawn: Oct 2011
Cartoon reference number: a033
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Computer cartoons. “Printer not found”

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computer printer not found cartoon

Computer cartoon. Printer not found message on computer screen

A cartoon showing a woman getting annoyed with her computer. A message on the computer screen says “Printer not found”. The printer is alongside the computer.

A cartoon about the frustration of using computers and their seemingly nonsensical, inexplicable or unfathomable messages.
This cartoon was drawn as a greetings card published by Paperlink.
Cartoon reference number: a031
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Differences between the sexes. Cartoon – a man noticing a car while a woman notices a cat

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men nice car women nice cat cartoon

Gender differences cartoon. Cartoon – a man noticing a car while a woman notices a cat.

A cartoon showing a man being impressed by a high status car while a woman is more interested in the cat that is sitting on the car.

A cartoon about gender differences, feminism, gender roles, masculinity, male traits, female traits, genetic determinism, the blank slate.
Cartoon reference number: a030

Man doing housework cartoons. Product design designed to appeal to men

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men with vacuum cleaner cartoon

Men doing housework cartoons. A vacuum cleaner designed to appeal to men.

A cartoon showing a man looking at a vacuum cleaner and being interested in its design and specifications.
Some household devices such as the Dyson vacuum cleaner are very muscular and macho, and are probably designed to be targeted to appeal to male sensibilities.

A cartoon about gender differences, feminism, gender roles, masculinity, male traits, household chores, product design.
Cartoon reference number: a029
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Man doing housework to impress woman cartoons

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man doing housework to impress woman cartoon

Men doing housework cartoons. Men act differently in the company of attractive women.

A cartoon showing a man modifying his behaviour in order to impress an attractive woman (possibly subconsciously).

A cartoon about gender differences, feminism, gender roles, sexual attraction strategies, deception, sexual display, gender interaction.
Cartoon reference number: a028
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Men doing housework cartoon. Men never know which washing programme to use

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men washing machine cartoon

Men doing housework cartoon. Men never know which washing programme to use

A cartoon showing a woman complaining to her husband/partner that he’s put the washing machine on the wrong wash cycle, ruining her clothes by making it shrink in the wash because it was too hot.

The cartoon shows the different talents/interests/preoccupations of men and women.
The man is good at fixing the plumbing, but he’s useless at using the washing machine itself.

A cartoon about gender differences, feminism, gender roles, male incompetence at housework.
Cartoon reference number: a027
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Dalek cartoons. Girl dalek who wants ballet lessons

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Dalek ballet lessons cartoon

Dalek cartoon. Girl dalek who wants to grow up to be a ballerina.

A cartoon showing a mother dalek and a little girl dalek.
The little girl dalek wants to be a ballerina when she grows up, but her mother is trying to explain to her that daleks can’t become ballet dancers.

A cartoon about ambition, dreams, delusion, parenting skills, gender stereotypes (the pink of the girl dalek, and the fact that she wants to be a ballerina), careers advice.
The little girl dalek is ‘dressed’ in pink. Pink is the predominant fashion colour for young girls at the moment (2011) – it’s as though feminism never happened.
Daleks, by the way, are evil aliens in the popular BBC tv series, Dr Who.
You never see dalek children in the tv programme for some reason.
Cartoon reference number: a025

Cartoon. Too many hinges on a door can be counterproductive

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too many door hinges cartoon

Cartoon: a door with hinges on both edges – making it impossible to open the door.

The hinges in this cartoon are a metaphor for devices (or people, or institutions) that are meant to make things function better, but that make them worse when over-used. The point of the cartoon is that they can be counterproductive.
Cartoon showing how too many facilitators can make action impossible.

The hinges in the cartoon can be metaphors for committees, too many cooks, lack of functionality, excess, excessive help, excessive aid, counterproductive aid.
Cartoon reference number: a010

Cartoon. Change the clocks – double summertime. Daylight robbery?

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Cartoon. clocks change to double summertime

A cartoon about the proposal to put the clocks in Britain forward by another hour all year round.

This would change GMT to BST and the current BST to double summertime.
This system is opposed in parts of Britain, especially Scotland (where it is argued that the mornings would be too dark). The proposed change would generally be an improvement, allowing greater use of the limited daylight in winter.
It occurs to me that any campaign against changing the clocks could use the slogan “Daylight Robbery”.

A cartoon about GMT, BST, British Summer Time, Greenwich Mean Time.
Cartoon reference number: a008
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Cartoon. Childhood: physical play versus electronic play. The allure of the electronic.

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Cartoon child on phone on swing

A cartoon showing a child on a swing using a hand held device such as a phone or electronic game.
A cartoon about the allure of the electronic.

Cartoon showing a father pushing his child on a swing. The child is engrossed in a hand held device (perhaps a phone or an electronic gaming device).

A cartoon about childhood, attention, play, bonding, parenting, physical play versus electronic play.
Cartoon reference number: a007
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Health and safety gone mad – cartoon

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Health and safety gone mad

Cartoon – health and safety gone mad
Health and safety guidelines

A cartoon showing an officious inspector making a judgement on a health and safety issue. A child wrapped in cottonwool to protect it from danger – but the cottonwool itself is judged to contravene health and safety guidelines because it is a choke hazard

A cartoon about the over-zealous implementation of petty rules concerning health and safety regulations

Cartoon drawn: 2011
Cartoon reference number: saf31
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Cartoon. Yesterday’s news – the transitory nature of current affairs

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The transitory nature of news

Cartoon. Yesterday’s news. The transitory nature of news.

A cartoon showing someone watching the news on television, saying that he’d forgotten that a major news event had happened only a short time earlier (the revolution in Egypt as part of the so called Arab Spring).Cartoon about the fleeting attention span that any news story can command in a world saturated with news events.

A cartoon about the speed with which news stories fall into the dustbin of history as the world’s news media move from one story to the next, often giving a story saturation coverage and then moving on. Today’s earth shattering news is tomorrow’s chip paper, as the saying goes.

Cartoon drawn: 2011
Cartoon reference number: news22
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Lazy cat cartoon. Cat owner asking cat to do some housework

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Lazy cat cartoon. Cat on sofa - not contributing to housework

Lazy cat cartoon
Sharing housework cartoon

A cat lying on a chair – with its owner telling it to pull its weight and get up and do some household chores.
A cat’s owner complaining that the cat is lazy and doesn’t earn its keep.
Notice the conspiratorial dog.

A cartoon about pets, cats, dogs, sponging, free riders, dog’s life, cat’s life, housework, chores, responsibility, sharing, domestic rotas, washing up, cleaning.
Drawn: Jan 2009
Cartoon reference number: cat710

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