Honest John Kinkade (born in Moberly, Missouri) is a cartoonist and authorized Snake Oil peddler. He is best known for running fake ads in publications without paying for the service.

Snake Oil cartoon
This creation is a weekly parody designed to look like an ad. It is produced at Maximum Strength Snake Oil Laboratories in Tenderloin, California.

Honest John insists ideas for Snake Oil come to him from an alternate universe— where everything is for sale and advertising sells everything. He collects innocent words and images, electronically distorts them, then drops them into heavily manipulated ad layouts. The finished product is flattened and emailed to users across the world.

Snake Oil debuted in San Francisco's poverty-fighting newspaper, the Street Sheet, in 2003. It now runs nationally in the Funny Times and on greeting cards by NobleWorks.

Relationship to Thomas Kinkade—Painter of Blight
At the time of this posting, Honest John and Uncle Thom appear to be estranged at best. Thomas maintains he has never heard of Honest John, despite the fact both have hillbilly cousins in Missouri and an uncommon surname in common. Both also deny rumors the older Thomas inappropriately exhibited his work to John as a child.

Background
Honest John began his advertising career as an assistant art director, pasting borders around photos of elderly women's garments. He eventually fast-talked his way into a couple of New York's largest ad agencies, where he sold smokes and cut-rate loans. He currently consults with a Fortune 500 company that has not given permission to have its name posted here. His edumacation includes a BS in Marketing from Missouri State University and an MBA from Texas A&M University.