Revenge Toon
As Dickens once wrote, “The holidays are a time for revenge.”
So, in the spirit of old, dead Marley, I present the 2022 Resch Strategies Christmas card.
Revenge, you say. How is this lovely caricature drawing of the PR pros at Resch Strategies an act of Yuletide revenge? It’s so clever and well done. Festive. Funny. (I had to beat the dead reindeer a little more with the “give you 4 minutes back in your day” joke.)
Indeed, our friend, Gerry Rasmussen, the internationally syndicated cartoonist, really delivered this year.
Laura, Carly, Nikki and Joe are spot on. Heck, I think Carly is cropping her face out and making it her professional headshot. Steph and Anna have some quibbles with their hair color. Nick brings some very strong Max Headroom vibes, for the Gen X readers of this newsletter. And, as my 12-year-old said when he saw the card, “Man, Dad, this guy nailed you!”
The card is almost always a fun project (see: humorless years of 2016 and 2021), and this one was no exception, especially because of the revenge.
You see, the fine people I listed above, who I am fortunate to call colleagues and friends, have the unenviable task of trying to find something to give me for Christmas each year. I’ve been told I’m not an easy person to shop for. I don’t buy it, but that’s the word in Suite 415. Despite this, over the years they have done a remarkably good job.
There was the cocktail concocted in my name and added to the menu for six months at our team’s go-to restaurant, Envie (although Covid killed “The Resch” much too young). There was the autographed baseball by one of my favorite Cubs. The IU-U of M basketball tickets (the Hoosiers won!). The Boyne ski package for the family. And who could forget the Cameo videos from Tom Arnold and Marla Maples (“Resch, rhymes with fresh”).
They’ve done well. Incredibly thoughtful, personal, and generous, and I’m grateful for them all.
And then last year, this arrived:
Once again, a Gerry Rasmussen special. Next Christmas, my only request is to read the team group text that led to this gift.
While my youngest isn’t a fan, the family portrait is framed and finally hanging on my office wall. Some on the team think – because it took me ten months to remember to bring in a nail from home while the framed drawing sat wrapped on the floor in a corner of my office – that I, too, am not a fan.
Nothing could be further from the truth, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the inspiration for this year’s RS card. Nothing at all.
Revenge has such a negative connotation. But when combined with the holidays, it can be so much more.
So, in the spirit of the season, we remember the immortal words of Tiny Tim, “May you all be blessed with fun colleagues who are good sports and give good gifts!”