As promised – a repost / reminder that Apple TV has kidnapped the Peanuts gang.
On Sunday, May 8, 1988, two gunmen in ski masks entered Charles Schulzs’ home through an unlocked door, planning to kidnap his wife Jean. The attempt failed when their daughter Jill drove up to the house, prompting the criminals to flee. It was an attempted kidnap-ransom, one which if pulled off successfully would have made the would be wife snatchers very rich, for Schulz was by then one of the wealthiest entertainers in the world. At the time he was raking in $30 to $40 million per year in merchandise and endorsements for his beloved Peanuts comic strip. 32 years later, Apple, in a similar fashion, has finished the job. They’ve kidnapped the entire Peanuts gang. You want ‘em back? Pay the ransom!!
When Metropolitan Life Insurance licensed the rights to use the Peanuts as the cornerstone to their advertising campaign from 1985-2016, the deal was worth an estimated $12 Million per year. “Get Met, It Pays” made the insurance giant a household name; they were the ‘Geico’ ads of the time. For me personally, I enjoyed them so much as a kid because I come from a family of Met Life employees… starting with my Grandfather. “Mother Met” as he used to call it, was now famous, thanks to Snoopy and his pals. Just another example of marketers co-opting lightning in a bottle. At its height, Peanuts was published daily in 2,600 papers in 75 countries, in 21 languages. Met Life buying their way in to some cozy cultural currency was harmless. You could hardly call Schulz a sellout, as it only expanded an all ready huge enterprise and didn’t do anything to keep the Peanuts from us.
Now, if you think that comparing Apple to kidnappers is a bit overly dramatic,, you’re probably right. But I needed a hook, so give me a break OK? The point is that in a desperate effort to buy their way into our hearts, they’ve stabbed us in the back!. How could they do such a thing?! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and you know what millions of families will not be enjoying together unless they are privileged enough to own an Apple TV ?… “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving”. You can be sure I’ll repurpose this entire post in a few weeks and replace that with “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. Just check the Twitter hashtags #Apple, #Hateful and #Greedy to catch my drift.
The best to you and your family.
“When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
