'Dancing Bug' Comic Strip Auctions Off Product Placement

Posted Tuesday, July 14, 2009 12:00 am

By: E&P Staff The creator of popular alternative cartoon "Tom the Dancing Bug" is auctioning off a product placement in a future strip, it was announced Tuesday.

Ruben Bolling, who draws the popular weekly strip, made the announcement on his "Tom the Dancing Bug" blog. The strip, syndicated by Universal Uclick, received the 2009 AAN Award for the Best Cartoon in Alternative Newsweeklies on June 26.

"Imagine your product featured in an authentic 'alternative' comic strip that is read by the most desirable demographics: educated young professionals; sophisticated internet users; upwardly mobile newspaper readers; and discerning australopithecine enthusiasts," Bolling wrote in an open letter to "Advertisers, Marketers and Promoters of All Types."

"Your product will be featured not in an ad, to which [the above demographic groups] are notoriously resistant, but within the artistic framework of the comic strip itself!"

All bids must be submitted by e-mail to tomdbug@gmail.com. Proceeds will be donated to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

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'Dancing Bug' Comic Strip Auctions Off Product Placement

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