Fiendish collectors have been scarfing down
$2.30 Big Value Meals every day since Sept.
11, in the hopes of buying all 28 different
versions of the popular Peanuts dog -- each
from a different country.
The "Snoopy of the World" promotion was
helpfully introduced to Hong Kong's
children with an ad campaign that said "Try
to collect them all, because missing even
one makes a very big difference."
Tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents
began lining up to get their plastic beagle
bangles, causing lines to snake outside the
restaurants, according to the South China
Morning Post. Fights began to break out in
the long lines, and local police were
summoned to each outlet to prevent rioting.
The gift madness started in June, when
McDonald's Hong Kong announced a Winnie the
Pooh promotion that offered Pooh toys for a
little more than $2 along with any
purchase. The Pooh toys struck an immediate
chord with the masses; McDonald's unloaded
one million in a few days, after projecting
that total over five weeks.
The bad behavior began then, too. Parents
refused to leave restaurants until managers
opened boxes rationed for later in the
campaign, callers jammed McDonald's
switchboards for days on end, and the
company was eventually forced to pull
teevee spots hawking the dolls.
Smelling an opportunity, McDonald's
announced the more ambitious Snoopy of the
World campaign for September. The company
ordered more than 2 million of the toys, to
sell for around 75 cents apiece.
The stampede that followed attracted cries
of outrage from the local medical
community, as well as a threat of boycott
by the Hong Kong Legislature if the company
did not call the promotion off.
"As a consumer and mother of a 10-year-old
boy, I say that taking a child to
McDonald's for 28 days has nothing to do
with the character of Snoopy," said Hong
Kong legislator Cyd Ho Sau-lan, the SCMP
reported Sept. 12. "I give a cautious
reminder to parents, if they succumb to the
campaign, to take a reading of their
children's body weight now and after the 28
days."
At the time, McDonald's Hong Kong spokesman
Brian Weaver claimed the campaign was not
designed to snag kids every day, but rather
to give them a choice of their favorite
Snoopy dolls so that they could plan their
visits ahead. "I think we are being
perfectly reasonable," Weaver told the
SCMP.
The different Snoopy nationalities, which
did not include a single African version,
also sparked cries of racism.
"Snoopy could be a little black guy, but it
seems they've run with a white trend here,"
South African Consul Gregory De'eb told the
SCMP. "There's not one dark-colored
Snoopy."
Diplomatic representatives from Mozambique,
Egypt and Nigeria also expressed concern
with the Snoopy white-ou,t and noted that
future Snoopy campaigns in Africa would not
fare well without an African Snoopy
entrant.Spokesman Weaver claimed the lack
of black Snoopies was an oversight that
would be remedied in future campaigns.
McDonald's has continued the campaign
despite the threats. Legions of parents are
eating the junk food every day to complete
their child's Snoopy collection. Children
launch early morning raids to buy the toys
before stocks run out for the day.
After a month of mania the Snoopy mania
turned violent Sept. 30, when a 37-year-old
customer allegedly punched a 27-year-old
manager at Tuen Mun's Leung Tak Street
outlet when the hapless manager failed to
stop line-cutters. The manager was taken to
a local hospital with chest pains.
In another incident that same day, a
photographer taking pictures of the
frustrated customers in line sparked a near
riot that was narrowly averted by police
backup.
With the campaign approaching its bitter
end. Hong Kong residents are starting to
wither under the barrage of junk food and a
McDonald's backlash is growing. Grandmother
Tse Ping has bought five Big Value Meals
every single day of the promotion.
"It makes me sick to eat McDonald's every
day. I would rather give them to other
people or throw them away," Ping told the
SCMP.
Many collectors now buy the meals to get
the toys and then give the food away to
homeless people who have taken to circling
the golden arches in hopes of snagging free
meals. And a nascent Snoopy resale market
has cropped up for desperate parents to buy
missing dolls for steep premiums. Some Hong
Kong residents are even going to China to
purchase extra Snoopies, which are selling
for as much as $26 on the black market, the
Associated Press reported.
McDonald's has announced that Snoopies will
still be available for order after the
promotion ends. Until then, the city is
bracing for one last frenzy this Tuesday,
when the restaurants release Hong Kong
Snoopy.
[From the 8/5/98 Santa Rosa Press Democrat, by Steve Hart]
A museum for Charlie Brown
"Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz wants to build a museum near his Redwood Empire Ice Arena in Santa Rosa, with memorabilia from his nearly 50-year career in the funny papers.
His project is in its early stages, but Schulz got some help Tuesday from Santa Rosa leaders who approved a general plan change for the location on West Steele Lane.
The City Council's action designates the 1.5-acre museum site for such a public use. Until Tuesday, the property at West Steele and Hardies Lane was earmarked for homes.
Jim Hummer, a planning consultant working for Schulz, said it probably will take another six months to get the spot rezoned.
Schulz's wife Jean said Tuesday the celebrated cartoonist wants a place to display his collection of art and artifacts. Schulz started drawing Peanuts in 1950 and the strip now appears in more newspapers than any other cartoon feature in history.
Schulz, 75, has lived and worked in Sonoma County for the past 40 years.
Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy and the other Peanuts characters have inspired successful plays, books, recordings and TV shows. Schulz has won five Emmys, two Peabody Awards and the French Order of Arts and Letters.
Jean Schulz said the museum will include Peanuts artwork that has never been displayed before. No opening date has been set.
The Schulz family opened the ice arena in northwest Santa Rosa in 1969. The 17-acre property on West Steele Lane now includes artists' studios, offices, a gift shop, tennis courts, softball field and a practice hockey court.
On Tuesday, the City Council agreed to change the general plan designation on about 12 acres from residential to commercial-type uses. City planners said the change is needed to recognize the existing uses of Schulz' property.
According to a city report, a museum on the site wouldn't generate more traffic than a medium-density housing development.
No one spoke against the plan amendment Tuesday, although one neighbor submitted a letter saying she's worried about increased traffic.
[From the 7/23/98 Daily Variety, by Claude Brodesser]
Good grief! Look who's on Broadway!
NEW YORK -- In an unusual move, the notoriously reclusive creator of the internationally famous PEANUTS comic strip, Charles Schulz, will be collaborating next week with Broadway's "A View from the Bridge" and "Sideman" helmer, Michael Mayer.
The 1967 tuner "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" is being revived by CAMI and Fox Theatricals -- and helmed by Mayer -- for a bow this fall.
This time 'round, Schulz will have a hand in the creative process -- he lacked it in the earlier production that starred Gary Burghoff in the lead role. B.D. Wong is mentioned as on the short list for the Charlie Brown character, as is Fred Savage.
[And I'm compelled to point out that Mr. Brodesser incorrectly spelled Charles Schulz's name both times in the story!]
Charles Schulz Donates $1M for Overlord Monument
October 24, 1997
Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz is donating $1,000,000 and will lead a national fund raising effort to build a ten-acre memorial featuring a 44-foot
tall granite arch with the word OVERLORD engraved across the top. The memorial will commemorate the World War II allied armed forces who
stormed ashore at Normandy on June 6, 1944. "Operation Overlord" was the Allied Forces' code-name for the invasion.
Schulz was drafted into the Army at the age of 20 and served with the 20th Armored Division in France and Germany during World War II. Schulz has
occasionally drawn on his wartime experiences for the backdrop to some of the episodes in his enormously popular comic strip. Although he didn't
participate in the initial invasion, Schulz said he quickly came to appreciate the sacrifices made by all of the allied forces who punched a big hole in
Hitler's vaunted Atlantic Wall as Schulz's own division fought its way across Europe.
Bob Slaughter, chairman of the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, hailed Schulz's appointment. "Without knowing it at the time, he and I were
comrades-in-arms in the European Theater," says Slaughter, who went ashore in the Normandy assault wave. Slaughter was honored with two Purple
Hearts for his role in the battle. Schulz is also putting up some of his artwork for the cause. A June 6, 1997 comic strip, featuring a helmeted Snoopy in
the waters off Normandy, will be used in the fund-raising campaign. Its caption reads simply, "June 6, 1944, To remember."
"I believe D-Day is the most significant day for mankind in modern history," says Schulz.
Schulz's donation to the National D-Day Memorial enables organizers to break ground on the site, located in Bedford, VA, starting in November. The
proposed memorial complex would occupy 10 acres on an 88-acre site, with a stirring view of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Bedford, with a population in 1944 of only 3,200, was the home to Company A of the 116th Infantry Regiment. Of the 170-soldier company, 91 men
died, 64 were wounded, and only 15 were able to continue fighting. Of the 35 Bedford soldiers in Company A, 19 died in the invasion's first15
minutes, and two more died later in the day.
War historians say the 21 deaths from the tiny town of Bedford were the highest per-capita loss from any single community.
"Their hard-fought victory set the Nazis on their heels and eased the way for the rest of us," the 74-year-old Schulz noted from his home in Santa Rosa,
CA. "I am proud to help in any way I can to make the long overdue National D-Day Memorial to the valor, fidelity and sacrifice of the allied forces a
reality as quickly as possible."
The public can contribute to the memorial by contacting the National D-Day Memorial Foundation at 1-800-351-DDAY.
From "Variety":
NEW YORK Good grief! Bulbous-headed beagle-owner Charlie Brown will be returning to Broadway by way of a national tour scheduled to start in November.
The multicity tour of the 1967 musical "You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown" will be produced this time around by Chicago-based Fox Theatricals' exec producer Michael Leavitt and New York-based Columbia Artists producer Aldo Scrofani.
The revival is slated to start rehearsals in Chicago in October, opening there in November. The itinerary then calls for the show to move to St. Louis, then tour for 17 weeks around the nation. It will move to Broadway in late spring of 1999.
Fox’s Leavitt also said that several international productions are being considered as well. Peanuts is the most widely read cartoon in the world: Distributed by United Features Syndicate, Snoopy and his cohorts reach 255 million readers a day in 75 countries.
"It’s a ’90s version," explained Leavitt. "We purposely hired Michael Mayer, who’s a young, hip director. The goal isn’t to make them look like the (cartoon) characters, but to capture the essence of the characters. We’re not going to be limited to a lily-white cast."
Unlike Disney’s toon-based "Lion King," the show will be relatively cheap to produce, with only six characters: Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Schroeder, Sally, a Patty (not Peppermint) and, of course, Snoopy.
Casting is still ongoing, but one production insider said that Fred Savage of NBC’s "Working" and "The Wonder Years" is being considered to play Charlie Brown. When it does hit Broadway, it will mark the 50th anniversary of the popular comic strip, which launched on Oct. 2, 1950, in seven U.S. newspapers. Now, 16,000 comic strips later, it appears in more than 2,600 newspapers around the world.
[Comic Buyer's Guide #1253, Nov.21, 1997]
Charles Schulz donates $1 million for D-Day memorial
Peanuts creator Charles Schulz announced Oct. 18 that he has donated $1 million to help build a National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va., and agreed to head the project's fund-raising campaign.
Schulz, a combat veteran of World War II, dedicated his strip to D-Day in 1994 on the 50th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, and regularly pays anniversary tribute to the event. National D-Day Memorial Foundation Director Richard Burrows saw Schulz' tribute strip this year and asked if he would help rasise money for the project. Construction is scheduled to begin soon on the memorial with completion targeted for the the 55th anniversary of D-Day in 1999. Plans call for a 10-acre memorial site, including an education center. Bedford was chosen for the memorial because it suffered the most casualties per capita during the invasion. Of the 35 soldiers from Bedford who participated in the attack 19 died within 14 minutes. Two more died in the course of the day.
The Oct. 19 Richmond Times-Dispatch quoted Schulz as saying, "It is an event we should make sure we never forget."
For more on Schulz, see nest week's CBG tribute issue honoring the cartoonist's 75th Birthday.
[NEC Tournament Press Release]
NEC WORLD SERIES OF GOLF WILL HONOR
CARTOONIST CHARLES SCHULZ
AKRON, Ohio -- The man who made Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Lucy household
words will be part of the 1997 NEC World Series of Golf. Charles Schulz,
creator of the comic strip read by more that 100 million people in 2,600
daily newspapers, will receive the first Raymond C. Firestone Award.
Recognition will be made in memory of Mr. Firestone, long-time supporter of
professional golf in Akron during his career with The Firestone Tire &
Rubber Company. The former company chairman died in 1994. The Firestone
Country Club was founded by his father, Harvey S., Firestone, and opened in
1929.
The award has been established to recognize outstanding contributions to
the game of golf. While not an annual award, it will be given to honor
special achievements and demonstrate support of the game.
Throughout Schulz's cartooning career, he has included golf as an integral
part of his art. Golfers have laughed at themselves when Schulz illustrated
examples of real life golf situations.
The cartoonist... known to his friends as Sparky... has a lifelong love for
golf. He played for his high school team in Minnesota and won the caddie
championship at Highland Park in St. Paul when he was 18.
For nearly five decades, Schulz's cartoon characters have been seen around
the world in golfing poses and situations and are featured in many of his
books, including "An Educated Slice," a compilation of golf strips drawn by
the veteran cartoonist.
His artwork appeared in the revised United States Golf Association (USGA)
Handicap System booklet featuring Snoopy and Woodstock. Each September
Schulz sponsors the Woodstock Open Golf Tournament, a charitable event in
Santa Rosa, California, which he and his partner won last year. And, the
Met Life blimp piloted by Snoopy flies over many professional golf
tournaments.
For 47 years of creative efforts with Peanuts, Schulz has twice received
the Reuben Award, comic art's highest honor. Snoopy and Charlie Brown went
to the moon as mascots of the Apollo 10 astronauts in 1969.
The popular cartoonist went to Paris in 1990 for the opening of a Peanuts
exhibit at the Louvre Museum honoring the 40th anniversary of the comic
strip. At the opening he was named Commander in the Order of Arts and
Letters, France's highest award for excellence in the arts. Two years
later, the Italian government presented a similiar award. Last summer
Schulz received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Schulz will receive his award at a private ceremony on Wednesday, August
20, the evening before the opening round of the NEC World Series of Golf.
He will be introduced during the opening ceremonies on Tuesday afternoon
and will play in the Ambassador Pro Am on Wednesday, August 20, on the
South Course.
[From the Knight-Ridder News Service, Aug. 14, 1997]
Collectors Finding Hot New Hobby
Joining stamps and baseball cards as hot collectors' items is the pre-paid phone card.
Moneycard Collector magazine editor Tom Williams says phone cards combine the three essential elements of collectibles: They have intrinsic value; they can be beautiful; they are easily traded.
The hobby is still new, but he estimates there are more than 50,000 collectors in the United States and millions more worldwide. The cards are traded through dealers, in magazines, on the Internet and at card shows.
Factors that make a card collectible include:
€ Low mintage: Limited editions are worth more.
€ Solid images: Cards with interesting themes command a premium.
€ Real value: Cards that are unused, still have the time on them or, even better, are still in the original cellophane wrapper or have an uncovered access number, are more valuable.
A collector paid a record $5,050 recently for an AT&T card issued for the University of Illinois in 1993, Williams says.
Other hot cards include the Coca-Cola die-cut Coke bottle card, which originally sold for $10 and now trades at around $70, and the "Beaglefest Christmas in July" phone card, which features Peanuts' Snoopy asleep on his doghouse. That card, which originally sold for $5, trades for $20
[From USA Today March 24, 1997]
Met Life's Snoopy ads: Bark but no bite?
By Dottie Enrico, USA TODAY; Lydia Gibson contributing
NEW YORK - Good grief. It's hard to believe the Peanuts cartoon gang has been selling Met Life insurance and financial service products since the mid-1980s.
And the popular Charles M. Schulz characters have done a good job establishing brand awareness for Met Life.
Among the 1,000 adult consumers quizzed for Ad Track, USA TODAY's exclusive poll measuring
the popularity and effectiveness of national ads, more than 70% said they'd seen the latest Met Life
ads starring Snoopy and a handful of live-action humans at least once.
Young & Rubicam is Met Life's ad agency.
The campaign appears to be popular with consumers. One in five said they like the ads a lot. The
ads were slightly more popular with women than with men; 24% of women gave the Met Life ads
the highest possible popularity scores vs. 18% of men. But overall, the campaign turned in
lower-than-average effectiveness marks with consumers of both sexes. Only 16% called the Snoopy
commercials "very effective."
Marketing experts say one reason the Snoopy ads might be likable but not effective is that
consumers have a hard time accepting a light-hearted cartoon character as a credible spokesman for
life insurance or investment products.
Consultant Jack Trout, who operates his own Greenwich, Conn.-based marketing firm, says
consumers take money matters seriously and "it may be time to think of sending Snoopy back to the
doghouse."
Brand awareness, however, might be the most important benchmark for companies like Met Life.
Over the past two years, financial services and mutual fund companies have significantly increased
their ad budgets and created ads that speak directly to consumers, not investment professionals.
"We believe the Snoopy ads help cut through the clutter," says Barbara Willis, assistant vice
president/advertising at Met Life.
"Most of our competitors spend two or three times what we do to advertise. The important thing for
us is to present an image that is memorable and accessible."
Willis says many people are anxious or confused by insurance and investment choices and the use of
the Peanuts characters makes potential customers feel more comfortable with Met Life and its
salespeople.
Met Life spends about $28 million each year to advertise and, with $276 billion in assets under
management, it is one of the largest U.S. insurers.
[From TV Guide, March 8, 1997]
Peanuts Pianists
When A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted in 1965, 16-year-old George Winston was so impressed by its Vince Guaraldi jazz score that he bought the record the following day.
"When it came to the dance scene that everybody knows, I just flipped. That piano just drives me crazy," says Winston, the "rural folk" pianist best known for his seasonal albums, such as Autumn and Summer. Now Winston has scored another hit with Linus and Lucy -- The Music of Vince Guaraldi. Featuring songs like "The Great Pumpkin Waltz," the solo piano album has been on Billboard's Top 200 for more than 20 weeks.
Though he doesn't watch a lot of TV these days because of his hectic touring schedule, Winston still tries to keep up with today's television tunes. "I have all those TV-theme records. I think there are at least three volumes. Remember those? They sold pretty well back in the '80s."
