Squeaky "Green" Marketing

A Dummy's Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin
Mannequin American views and guidelines on marketing/PR trends, news from the world of puppets and ventriloquism, bits of humor and other interesting but useless information. I post every Tuesday and Friday.
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How Michael Jackson Saved Sesame Street
Everyone else has blogged about Michael Jackson, so I may as well add something ... puppet-related.

Long before MJ became the poster child for many things creepy, he crossed paths with the Muppets. He made a brief appearance in A Special Sesame Street Christmas.  But he had one other very significant connection to Sesame Street.

When the show produced "Letter B," a parody of The Beatles' "Let It Be", the song unfortunately was too similar to the original. Northern Songs, which owned the Beatles' library, threatened to sue the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) for $5.5 million. (Nice guys.) Thankfully, before the case went to trial, Michael Jackson swooped in and purchased the Beatles catalog. He didn't pursue legal action, and CTW was only fined $50.

Tack that on as one of the many, many ways Michael Jackson left his mark on the world. Thanks to ToughPigs for the info.

Memories of the First Mobil Marketing Vehicle

I'm proud to live in the state that is the official home of the Oscar Meyer Wienermobiles. (There are six of them, and you can track where they are on the Wienermobile web site.) During their existence, millions of wiener whistles have been distributed (The originals were deemed choking hazards ... now they're prized by collectors) and "The Oscar Mayer Wiener Jingle" and "The Oscar Mayer Bologna Song" became part of Americana.  Dale tells me that he can still remember the thrill of seeing the Wienermobile in parades and at special events.

On July 6, Oscar G. Mayer died at 95. He was the third Oscar Mayer in the family that founded Oscar Mayer Foods. Although now owned by Kraft Foods, the Mayer family has remained involved with the company.

While the modern world (childhood obesity, PETA rants against the vehicles, trendy vegetarianism, etc.) complicates the Wienermobile's mission, the original concept was simply to create the first mobile-marketing instrument. The company wanted something that would bring smiles to kids' faces and help differentiate the brand. It's accomplished those things and more.  Thanks for the memories, Oscar Mayer. And thanks for sticking with something that works.

USS New York

The USS New York will be commissioned in November. Seven and a half tons of steel from Ground Zero are welded into the bow of the ship. The motto of the ship is: Strength Forged through Sacrifice: Never Forget

An apt motto for all Americans ... even a Mannequin American. 

I Love to "Bleep"

Choose one word. Bleep that one word out of a song. What happens? I'll tell you what happens. Sesame Street's Count becomes an X-rated singer who's hysterically funny. Click here to laugh. And remember, it's all in your head. He says nothing wrong or offensive. From Collegehumor.

Squeaky Green Marketing

Earlier this month residents of New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia awoke to find their cities had been targeted with a new, cutting edge form of marketing: GreenGraffiti. Not only that, but a scavenger hunt ensued, and those who spotted these GreenGraffiti logos won free pizzas.

Domino's is one of the first companies to use GreenGraffiti in America. Green graffiti is applied by placing a stencil on the sidewalk and then pressure washing the cut out so the message applied is simply a cleaner version of the area around it. So, no paint, no chalk and no dye. Completely environmentally friendly ... except for maybe some eye pollution from too many ads.

It's one of those "Why didn't I think of that?" ideas. I'm surprised that a pressure washer manufacturer (preferably one that uses Kohler Engines) hasn't started using this tactic near retail outlets. Man I should have gotten paid for that idea.