ABC pumps up 'Great Pumpkin' with rapping Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown may never kick that football or pitch a winning game, but turns out the kid's not a half-bad rapper.
ABC is running a beefed-up version of last year's promo of "Charlie B," extolling the virtues, over a hip-hop beat, of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," the 1966 Peanuts animated special that runs Thursday night and has aired on the network since 2001.
"Rakin' leaves, and rollin' on a pumpkin/trick or treat, then the party get thumpin,'" Charlie raps.
Some critics on Twitter aren't amused. "You get those people and you get some of those mothers that say you're kind of demeaning a classic, who are righteous and want to be pure about it," Marla Provencio, executive vice president of marketing at the ABC Entertainment Group, said in an interview. "But our goal as marketers is to try to get attention.
"We just thought it was a great opportunity to really kind of do something different," she added. "We've had this franchise for a long, long time. ... How many times can you do the traditional straightforward sell?
"We opted to do something that was relevant for our time, that would maybe bring in a whole different audience and would be just attention-getting."
Actually, Charlie's rap sounds more 1985 than 2010, but at least that's a start in terms of freshening the Peanuts franchise.
This isn't the first time ABC has turned to music to help blow some dust off the Peanuts specials. Earlier this year, Barry White's "You're the First, My Last, My Everything" was invoked to help sell a Charlie Brown Valentine's Day show.
The estate of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz doesn't mind, Provencio said. "They have called us often and said how pleased [they] are with the way we market Charlie."
For the rap, the ABC marketing team wrote all the lyrics, then shipped the project off to voice actor Bunker King to supply the rap. The picture footage all comes from the special.
"That's the fabulous and fun thing about animation," Provencio said. "You can put anything in their mouths."
UPDATED: An earlier version of this post did not contain the embedded video and incorrectly identified the voice actor who provided the rap as Greg Ippolito.
— Scott Collins
Twitter.com/@scottcollinsLAT
Photo: Sally and Linus in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." Credit: ABC.
I'm indifferent to the rapping commercials. ABC's airing is probably flagging because anyone can watch the Great Pumpkin on DVD, Blu-Ray, or Itunes. With the added bonus that you can see the whole thing not the edited-to-squeeze-in-5-more-minutes-of-commercials. I can see the whole thing and watch it anytime. That convenience can't be beat.
Posted by: RFootman | October 28, 2010 at 02:22 PM
quote: "You get those people and you get some of those mothers that say you're kind of demeaning a classic, who are righteous and want to be pure about it," Marla Provencio, executive vice president of marketing at the ABC Entertainment Group, said in an interview.
Apparently Marla is so out of touch with the consumer population that she doesn't realize that it's not just 'righteous mothers' who think this is a stupid and shallow idea. So do fathers, brothers, sisters, teenagers and hipsters. Just about the only ones who won't think this is idiotic and annoying are kids too little to know what 'Peanuts' is anyway.
I worked in marketing research as a manger/survey editor and I can tell you this is the typical 'genius' of marketing research. Ask people stupid questions and get even stupider answers. I'm sure that's how this all came about.
Posted by: az66 | October 28, 2010 at 02:45 PM
That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. I had to double check and make sure I wasn't reading an Onion article making fun of network executives. You've got a classic that has run every year for 40 years and you mess with it? Don't you think with that kind of track record of success it may be pretty good on its own? Morons.
Posted by: Charles Schulz | October 28, 2010 at 02:47 PM
What's next, pimping Lucy?
Posted by: Reality Chick | October 28, 2010 at 03:03 PM
They just couldn't let it be...
Posted by: All Hallows Eve | October 28, 2010 at 03:24 PM
I was caught off guard that even classic TV specials are not immune to the stupidity of a so-called "Marketing Genius".
Makes you think that ABC will be changing the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special's title to, "Imma Put a Cap in that Indians A$$, Charlie Brown" and who can forget "That's a Weak A$$ Tree, Charlie Brown" for us who know and love these classic specials. It has weak ratings because we don't really spend anytime with our children and we're more interested in reality TV and making people like "The Situation" famous . . . (That in and of itself makes me gag!)
I think Schultz just rolled over in his grave - what a huge marketing mistake. This will go right under GAP Logo as the worst idea in history!
Posted by: Jeff | October 28, 2010 at 05:00 PM
That's just WRONG. Charlie is an American icon. He always wears the same shirt, has the same hair, and always kicks the football. He doesn't rap, he's Charlie Brown dammit! If they ever dress him gangsta style I'm sure there will be a revolt.
Posted by: Kelly | October 28, 2010 at 06:12 PM
HAHAHAHA! I CAN'T believe this is being discussed, but I am THRILLED that I'm not alone. When I saw this on ABC today I was completely caught off kilter and dismayed by the knuckleheadedness of this ad. Wrong on MULTIPLE levels. And, hey, I'm someone who couldn't get enough of the KIA ad with the hamsters dishing out old school Black Sheep. That ad was sweet.
But, yeah, why replace Vince Guaraldi with this "ill-conceived-by-what-I-suspect-are-middle-aged-whitish-suburbanite-marketing-idiots" weirdness?
Two words: GOOD GRIEF!
Posted by: CYNICAL | October 28, 2010 at 06:15 PM
Shame on you, ABC, for degrading a beloved classic! The Peanuts are timeless and sweet, not urban gangster 'hoods'! Leave them alone!!!
Posted by: megan | October 28, 2010 at 06:25 PM
It's silly, the little kids watch this with their parents, this is your moment to introduce great music and vocabulary to them. Again, dumbing it down for society. You're not selling this to teenagers, it's the little ones in your lap, after the bath, or the child alone in front of the TV finally seeing something worth watching...
Sad, shame on them, and lazy them.....
Posted by: Denise Kosec | October 28, 2010 at 06:59 PM
You don't need to "freshen" a classic...that's why it's a classic.
Posted by: David Anaxagoras | October 28, 2010 at 07:30 PM
Disgusting... this kind of stuff is why I'm glad we watch the classics on DVD. It's called a classic for a reason you morons-- stop screwing up our childhood favorites in you desperate attempt to look clever and fresh-- you don't, you just look stupid.
Posted by: Karen S. | October 29, 2010 at 07:53 AM
Thanks for the link!
It amazes me how many people can't separate a promo from a program. This was just a gimmick to get attention for the same old special. The rapping was pretty generic, with pretty good lyrics. I give this promo a 9 for doing what it was supposed to do -- cut through the clutter.
Posted by: TheRealBigBlack | October 30, 2010 at 11:07 AM
I just now listened to the clip.
The voice ALONE is not even remotely similar to CB's original.
Normally I make it a point to watch this special, but after reading this article, I made it a point NOT to. Whoever is in charge of Schulz's estate is obviously too young to understand what many of us hold dear, and they're trying TOO hard to please the masses.
I am very disappointed.
Posted by: All Hallows Eve | November 01, 2010 at 01:15 PM
"How many times can you do the traditional straightforward sell?"
For a classic like Peanuts? INFINITY TIMES.
(ps-- I'm a 28 year old left-wing school teacher from San Francisco. Not a righteous or pure mother.)
Posted by: Heisenberg | November 01, 2010 at 01:51 PM