A few months ago, Volkswagen launched a magazine ad campaign featuring a tear out apology card. The image on the card is a well-known one, but it’s not the original.

The image, of a tiny kitten hanging off a tree branch (or rope in the case above) with the words “Hang In There” has been around since the early 1970s. Many have tried to reproduce the original’s genius, while others, such as The Simpsons, have parodied the motivational poster. In ”The Twisted World of Marge Simpson” Marge sees the poster’s 1968 copyright date and says, “…determined or not, that cat must be long dead. That’s kind of a downer.”

The cat One of the cats from the posters passed away last October, to which singer John Mayer tweeted, “That cat from the “hang in there” poster just died. Makes a man just wanna give up.”

What I can’t seem to figure out is which Hang in There poster is the original. Above is a roundup of versions of  the poster. Do you know which one is the original? You have to prove your argument.

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