2011-11-13
Explanation
This comic takes the well-known factoid that "it takes more muscles to frown than to smile" -- commonly used to encourage people to be cheerful -- and extends it to an absurd conclusion. A woman is giving a presentation with a bar chart showing three categories: "Muscles to Smile" (small bar), "Muscles to Frown" (medium bar), and "Muscles to Give Blowjob" (very tall bar). The implication is that the original muscle-counting logic, if taken seriously as a reason to prefer one facial expression over another, leads to uncomfortable places when extended to other activities involving facial muscles.
The caption reads "Complaint withdrawn," suggesting that someone who had been complaining (perhaps about having to smile, or about being told to smile) has reconsidered after seeing the full data. The humor comes from the deadpan, pseudo-scientific presentation of crude subject matter, treating it with the same straightforward statistical analysis as the original innocuous factoid.
The votey panel adds another layer, with someone asking "Where'''d you get that chart printed?" and the response being "Copy-Cat... yeah, it was awkward" -- referencing the real print/copy shop chain and the embarrassment of having such a chart professionally produced.