Hamburglar Alert

Aylmer illustrator beefs up portfolio with Hamburglar illustrations 

 

Laurent Robillard-Cardinal

Illustrations created by an Aylmer artist are spreading like wildfire across North America. The pieces are tied with the Ottawa Senators amazing winning streak and their rookie goalie’s historic performance.

 

Since goalkeeper Andrew Hammond joined the team and Senators started their astonishing run, they’ve increased their odds of making the playoffs from unlikely to possible. Because Hammond single handedly stole a dozen games, he obtained the nickname Hamburglar in reference to the McDonald’s character featured in 

various commercials.

 

“Being an illustrator and diehard Sens fan, I was inspired by the run the Senators have been on, especially by their goalie, Hammond, aka The Hamburglar. The first image I created is a mash-up between the Sens’ logo and McDonald’s Hamburglar character. I did this as a joke and shared it on one of the Sens’ message boards. My friend saw it and insisted on sending it to a local sports radio station. Staff there liked it and tweeted it. It got retweeted over 50 times, but unfortunately, they thanked my friend, and I didn’t get accredited,” said Marc Audet, the Aylmer illustrator.

 

“I ended up quickly doing another version - one done up like the crest on the front of the Senators jersey- and that one took off as well. My good friend, Jacob Barette, who designed the Senators’ Heritage jersey and is also from Aylmer, started putting it out there on Twitter. From there, it kind of went out of control, trending in the Ottawa region.”

 

Audet points to a number of factors to explain the sudden interest for his work. “The stars basically aligned for it. The unlikely hero, a 27-year-old rookie who was having a forgettable year in the minors and has never looked all that great at any level. His nickname, the Hamburglar, how can you not have fun with that? The Senators’ winning streak and push for a playoff spot - the Sens have never had a better streak than this, ever: 15-1-1.”

 

The illustrations soon took on a national and international life appearing on Canadian national broadcasts and American broadcasts, but things moved too fast for the Aylmer illustrator.

 

“As is prone to happen on the internet with any image, it got out there and my credit got removed,” noted Audet. “The biggest surprise was when TSN (sports television station) used it as a Batman-style animation all over their telecast, anytime they cut away to a replay or stats, they flashed the logo. It was surreal.”

 

It did not stop there for Audet. After a Senators fan threw that now infamous burger on the Canadian Tire Center’s ice surface in mid-March, Audet went back to the drawing board. “I did up a retro instructional diagram for proper burger throwing technique,” explained Audet. The response was shift. Within 10 minutes of posting it online, media organizations across the region had a sudden interest in the creation and the creator. Who know’s what Audet will serve up next, but he certainly beefed up his portfolio.