The image is burned into your brain if you've seen the show. A kitten. A branch. Those four words that have defined office drudgery for decades. But the Severance hang in there poster isn't just a nod to 70s office kitsch; it’s a psychological landmine.
When Mark Scout walks past that poster in the Lumon Industries basement, it feels wrong. It’s meant to be encouraging. Instead, it’s suffocating. Honestly, the show’s creator, Dan Erickson, and director Ben Stiller managed to take a symbol of hope and turn it into a harbinger of corporate doom. You see it and you don't feel motivated. You feel trapped.
The Weird History of the Original Inspiration
Before we get into why Lumon uses it, we have to talk about where this thing actually came from. It wasn't a corporate invention. Back in 1971, a photographer named Victor Baldwin took a black-and-white photo of his Siamese cat, Sacha. He put the words "Hang in there, baby" on it.
It was a massive hit. Even Spiro Agnew had one. It became the ultimate "we're all in this together" meme before memes were a thing. But in the world of Severance, the Severance hang in there poster loses that grassroots charm. It’s no longer a cute cat on a wall. It’s a command.
Think about the context of the "Innie." These people have no memories. No families. No sunlight. When they see a kitten clinging to a branch for dear life, they aren't seeing a metaphor. They are seeing their literal existence. They are the kitten. The branch is the job. And the ground? That’s the "Outie" life they can never touch.
Why Lumon Loves Passive-Aggressive Decor
Lumon’s aesthetic is basically "Mid-century Modern meets Purgatory." The Severance hang in there poster fits perfectly because it’s a form of soft control. Corporate environments love these kinds of empty platitudes.
Usually, HR departments put these up to pretend they care about mental health. At Lumon, it’s darker. The show uses the poster to highlight the absurdity of the "severed" state. It’s a 1970s relic in a world that feels stuck in time. The colors are muted. The hallways are endless. The kitten is screaming, and so are the employees, just internally.
If you look closely at the set design, everything is intentional. Production designer Jeremy Hindle didn't just pick a random cat poster. He picked something that evokes a sense of "stuckness."
The Psychological Toll of the "Hang In There" Mentality
Psychologists often talk about "toxic positivity." This is the idea that you should stay happy and "hang in" regardless of how miserable or exploitative your situation is. The Severance hang in there poster is the ultimate mascot for toxic positivity.
- It ignores the reason why you're hanging on.
- It suggests that the only option is to keep gripping the branch until your claws give out.
- It frames survival as a personal responsibility rather than a systemic failure.
In the Break Room—that horrific interrogation chamber—the idea of "hanging in there" becomes a joke. You can't hang in there when your spirit is being systematically crushed by a 1,000-page handbook.
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The contrast is what makes the show brilliant. You have this bright, cheery, retro poster in a windowless maze where people are performing tasks they don't understand for a company that literally owns their souls for eight hours a day. It’s haunting.
Does the Poster Actually Exist for Fans?
Kinda. Because the show became such a cult hit on Apple TV+, fans started hunting for replicas. You can find versions of the Severance hang in there poster on Redbubble, Etsy, and various "corporate" merch sites.
But there’s a catch.
Most people buying it are doing it ironically. They want to turn their own home office into a mini-Lumon. It’s a way of poking fun at the grind. But there’s something slightly unsettling about hanging a prop from a show about psychological torture in the place where you actually work.
Does it make you more productive? Probably not. Does it make you feel like you’re part of the Macrodata Refinement team? Definitely.
The Small Details You Missed
There’s a specific frame in Season 1 where the camera lingers on the poster just a second too long. If you watch the lighting, it’s never bright. The poster is always partially in shadow.
This mirrors the "Innie" experience. They only get part of the truth. They only get the "shadow" version of a life. The kitten on the Severance hang in there poster is cute, but it’s also isolated. There’s no mother cat. There’s no ground. Just the branch.
Some fans on Reddit have theorized that the kitten represents the "baby" state of the Innies. Remember, when they are first severed, they are basically newborns. They don't know what a breakfast burrito is. They don't know what a mother is. They are just clinging to the branch of Lumon because it’s the only thing they’ve ever known.
How to Get the Lumon Look (If You're Brave Enough)
If you’re looking to recreate the vibe of the show in your own space, you need more than just the Severance hang in there poster. You need the specific, oppressive atmosphere.
First, lighting is everything. You want cool-toned fluorescent lights. Nothing warm. Nothing that feels like a home.
Second, the furniture. You’re looking for Eero Saarinen-style desks or anything that looks like it belongs in a 1960s laboratory. Clean lines. Zero personality.
Third, the organization. Everything at Lumon is symmetrical except for the people. Their lives are messy, but their desks are perfect.
The Real Power of the Poster
Ultimately, the reason the Severance hang in there poster resonates so much is that we’ve all been that kitten.
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We’ve all been in a meeting that felt like it would never end. We’ve all had a boss who used "teamwork" as a code word for "do more work for the same pay." We’ve all felt like we were hanging onto a branch that was slowly snapping.
The poster is a mirror. It shows us the absurdity of modern work culture. It’s funny because it’s true, but it’s scary because it’s also true.
When Season 2 finally drops, expect to see more of these subtle visual cues. The showrunners know that the horror isn't in the monsters; it's in the office supplies.
Actionable Next Steps for Fans and Workers
If the themes of the show are hitting a bit too close to home, or if you just want to lean into the fandom, here is how to handle the "Severance" vibe in real life.
Assess your own "severance." Do you have a healthy boundary between work and life? If you find yourself thinking about your "Innie" tasks at 9 PM, you might need to establish some "firewalls" like Mark Scout. Use different devices for work and personal life to create a digital version of the severance procedure.
Audit your workspace decor. If you’re going to hang the Severance hang in there poster, do it with awareness. If it starts making you feel more stressed instead of amused, take it down. Surround yourself with items that actually trigger positive memories of your life outside the office—photos of friends, souvenirs from trips, or books you love.
Watch for the visual language. Next time you rewatch Season 1, pay attention to the colors. Notice how the "Outie" world has a completely different color palette (blues and grays) compared to the "Innie" world (greens and whites). The poster is one of the few things that bridges that gap in terms of retro aesthetic.
Join the community discussion. The lore of Severance is deep. Check out the theories on the "Severance" subreddit regarding the "Eagan" family and how their philosophy of the "nine core principles" (Joy, Love, Malice, etc.) actually contradicts the simple message of the "hang in there" poster.
Recognize toxic positivity. In your actual job, be wary of "hang in there" messaging that replaces actual solutions. If a workplace offers a poster or a pizza party instead of addressing burnout or staffing issues, that is a Lumon-level red flag. Recognition is the first step toward not letting the "branch" snap.
The kitten is still hanging there. The question is: are you going to keep hanging, or are you going to look for the exit? Lumon doesn't make it easy to find the elevator, but knowing the signs is a start.