Im waiting for the buddist version.

Jesus is okay, I suppose, but call me when he can lick his own ass.

Whatever, I see this as much more of an Isis/Horus rip-off.

That Madonna And Child is freaking me out. Is that a child or a miniature adult?

See, that's what I don't like about Consumerist. This is a great and amusing story; just the kind of thing I find interesting. By why cast it as "rips off", implying some kind of nefarious intent? References, sure. Uses, even. But rips off? Maybe save that for, I don't know, when someone is actually stealing something?

@aiken: aiken speaks The Truth.

I'm in advertising. Every design has been done, every design references something else. The question is, are the designers clever about it?

@aiken: You mean you couldn't see that happening?

SCENE 1 - Nefarious Marketing Boardroom at Purina (Int)
Bob: I passed a church the other day and saw the stained glass window and suddenly felt inspired.
Karen: You're starting a Christian Rock band?
Bob: No... let's... *whispers* rip off Christianity
Karen: But.. but.. it's in the public domain!
Bob: SILENCE WOMAN! WE ARE GOING TO RIP OFF CHRISTIANITY FOR THE SAKE OF OUR KITTIES!
*bob passes around a sketch*
Joe: Dude this is totally Isis and Horus
Bob: SILENCE!!!

I'm with aiken.

Call me when that tabby turns his water dish into wine.

Also with Aiken.

The sensationalist headline "Rips of Christianity" is silly and overblown. One could just as easily posit the opposite, that Purina is part of a Christian conspiracy to inject christianity into all aspects of our lives, even our pet food. Neither idea is actually justified. All art is derivative to some degree or another.

@danieldavis: Me too. Big, fat happy man surrounded by beatific kitties. I'd choose that food over all others.

@somthing_amazing- Totally agree. If something is in the Public Domain, I can't see how it can be "ripped off".

I think the headline was intended kind of tongue and cheek, It's kind of hard to rip off the whole freaking religion. If they meant it as anything other than "hey look... this kinda looks like that" they would have said "Purina rips off Michelangelo (not the ninja turtle)".

p.s... I know it's clearly not a Michelangelo painting, in fact it looks like that particular one is a fake: http://www.newyorkology.com/archives/2006/07/art_historian...

I don't get all the Strum und Drang over the headline. It's hyperbole and I took it as a joke. You know, "funny ha ha" and all that.

I hear that Jesus guy is a total dick about enforcing his copyright, though, so I hope Purina has a good lawyer.

what exactly is the problem here?

FitJulie writes:

I hear that Jesus guy is a total dick about enforcing his copyright, though, so I hope Purina has a good lawyer.

Sweet Baby Jesus, my cat loves that food! i'm all for anyone ripping off Christianity. "Christian" church leaders have been ripping people off for centuries.

Henceforth, any logo or image which features a person holding ANYTHING is hereby considered a complete and unabashed ripoff.

And any logo or image featuring a picture is hereby a ripoff of the following:

O->-

© forever by me. All rights reserved.

Hmm fitting considering all the other religions Christianity ripped off Ideas, holidays,celebrations from...

Call me crazy, but I think the Purina logo looks more like the Panera Bread logo (https://kronos.giftcardsolutions.com/panera/img/logo-small-lofi.gif).

@chrismar: You're crazy! You're also right. The panera goddess caresses her bread.

Go to the grocery store. Check out the cat food. Just about every single bag or box features a woman smiling and cradling a cat. (And all the women are brunettes!)

This is about the demographics of who buys cat food (apparently, dark-haired women).

I hear God is going to sue. I hear he's got good lawyers. That's a direct ripoff of the famous artwork Madonna and kitten.

Hey, I thought it was a funny story. I was just saying that, as much as I like Consumerist, I'm a little fatigued with the "this is an OUTRAGE" headline writing style that they apply to some fairly innocuous stories.

Heck, just in the past day or so we've had this silly "rip off", Toyota taken to task for renting a car that they didn't actually rent, and a Quiznos "infested" by one coyote.

Cat food packaging that borrows a well-known graphic motif from Christian and other religious artworks doesn't merit the same level of outrage as, say, the guy who was stranded in europe and whose bank told him to get lost.

It's boy-who-cried-wolf syndrome, and it diminishes the stories that actually deserve strong feelings.

i donno if they ripped it off. They may have drawn inspiration from it. I think they'd need the virgin mary holding a cat to be ripping it off. Thats a little far-fetched

It is obvious to me that this means that our Lord and Saviour is a cat. How else could he be resurrected unless he had nine lives?

The two images dont look the similar. Poor form to compare the "homage" that was "ripped of"

glad to see that others agree the this shouldnt have been posted

if anything wouldnt this be about starbucks's mixoparthenos logo?

@cabooglio:
I'm not sure, but I think that might just be a tad sacrilegious. *snicker*

@aiken: What I love about Consumerist is its just-this-side-of-Fark tongue in cheek quality, while having way more substance, so... deal with it.