Do Muppets + Coffee Lead to Violence?
Do Muppets + Coffee Lead to Violence?
June 18, 2009
Does watching Muppets commit acts of wanton violence lead to aggressive behavior?
Maybe someone could do a study on that.
In the meantime, check out these old black-and-white TV commercials for Wilkins Coffee. SuperPunch explains:
In 1957, Jim Henson was approached by a Washington, D.C. coffee company to produce ads for Wilkins Coffee... From 1957 to 1961, Henson made 179 commercials for Wilkins Coffee...
The ads starred the cheerful Wilkins, who liked Wilkins Coffee, and the grumpy Wontkins, who hated it. Wilkins would often do serious harm to Wontkins in the ads -- blowing him up, stabbing him with a knife, and smashing him with a club, among many other violent acts...
in October 1958, the company offered vinyl puppets... The offer on the [coffee] can said, "Hey Kids! I'm Wilkins -- he's Wontkins -- you see us on TV!" Obviously, Wilkins Coffee and Henson knew that the Muppet characters had kid appeal, although this doesn't seem to have had any effect on the use of violence and terror in the ads.
Coffee... now there's something that makes me aggressive!
Via: BoingBoing
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Posted 11/21/09 at 09:21am
magic_taco: ...ok...
magic_taco: ...ok...
Posted 11/21/09 at 08:16am
ZippyDSMlee: Welcome and goodmorning its zippy in the AM....wat OMG its 8:50AM!!!!
ZippyDSMlee: Welcome and goodmorning its zippy in the AM....wat OMG its 8:50AM!!!!
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:42pm
ZippyDSMlee: oh may the cute stab out your eyes, http://www.youtube.com/user/simonscat
ZippyDSMlee: oh may the cute stab out your eyes, http://www.youtube.com/user/simonscat
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:17pm
JDKJ: O.K. Suit yourself. But when you're wearing Ray-Bans, sitting on a curb with a white cane and a cup of pencils, and doing Stevie Wonder impersonations, don't say I didn't warn you.
JDKJ: O.K. Suit yourself. But when you're wearing Ray-Bans, sitting on a curb with a white cane and a cup of pencils, and doing Stevie Wonder impersonations, don't say I didn't warn you.
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:10pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No thank you I don;t want your cooties...or STDs...
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No thank you I don;t want your cooties...or STDs...
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:01pm
JDKJ: Me. I'm rehearsing the role just in case I do get dubbed Zippy The Soecnda.
JDKJ: Me. I'm rehearsing the role just in case I do get dubbed Zippy The Soecnda.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:59pm
DarkSaber: Wait, is that meant to be Zippy, me or you?
DarkSaber: Wait, is that meant to be Zippy, me or you?
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:49pm
JDKJ: I cud caer lez. =^^= *wakes up in mid-afternoon after staying up until 3:00AM soldering resistors on to circuit boards, stumbles around in formerly white but now grey underwear, while simultaneously scratching groin with vigor and making coffee*
JDKJ: I cud caer lez. =^^= *wakes up in mid-afternoon after staying up until 3:00AM soldering resistors on to circuit boards, stumbles around in formerly white but now grey underwear, while simultaneously scratching groin with vigor and making coffee*
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:46pm
DarkSaber: knell? Don't you mean Neil? Anymore of tht and I'll dub thee Zippy The Soecnda
DarkSaber: knell? Don't you mean Neil? Anymore of tht and I'll dub thee Zippy The Soecnda
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:44pm
JDKJ: Now, now, Saber. Don't be salty. You weren't the first one to knell and bob and you ain't gonna be the last one, either.
JDKJ: Now, now, Saber. Don't be salty. You weren't the first one to knell and bob and you ain't gonna be the last one, either.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:42pm
DarkSaber: JD's feeling rather desperate it seems.
DarkSaber: JD's feeling rather desperate it seems.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:33pm
JDKJ: C'mon, Zip. You already touch yourself way too much. Spread the love. Before you go blind.
JDKJ: C'mon, Zip. You already touch yourself way too much. Spread the love. Before you go blind.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No and I ain't touching any part of you or your friends!! :P
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No and I ain't touching any part of you or your friends!! :P
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:25pm
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Lik Mitaint?
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Lik Mitaint?
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
ZippyDSMlee: neill and bob,oldest giveing head joke and most lamest...
ZippyDSMlee: neill and bob,oldest giveing head joke and most lamest...
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
JDKJ: But thanks for the memory. MIB's a classic. *sings* "Here come the Men in Black. Galaxy defenders. Here come the Men in Black. They won't let you remember."
JDKJ: But thanks for the memory. MIB's a classic. *sings* "Here come the Men in Black. Galaxy defenders. Here come the Men in Black. They won't let you remember."
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:for the record I told you you can suck your own dck.
ZippyDSMlee: JD:for the record I told you you can suck your own dck.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:07pm
JDKJ: Naw, man. That's Mueedeegiaap and Bob. And you can stop bobbing. I got Zippy bobbing now, too.
JDKJ: Naw, man. That's Mueedeegiaap and Bob. And you can stop bobbing. I got Zippy bobbing now, too.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:56pm
DarkSaber: OH I get it now! It's Men In Black quote! The twins that run the comm centre in HQ.
DarkSaber: OH I get it now! It's Men In Black quote! The twins that run the comm centre in HQ.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:49pm
JDKJ: I'd like to introduce you to them. First, Neil. Then, Bob.
JDKJ: I'd like to introduce you to them. First, Neil. Then, Bob.
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Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
Coffee only makes me aggressive if I haven't had any.
Exactly. But like in an RE shuffling zombie way, not in a l4d running zombie way.
Coffee calms me down. Sometimes, there's advantages to being ADHD!
This, though I'm usually more sluggish then violent in the morning if I haven't had my coffee.
Hahaha, I knew what you were talking about before I even clicked the link. I've got some friends who are practically Muppet historians. Did you know the pilot episode of The Muppet Show was subtitled "Sex And Violence" and featured a Seven Deadly Sins Pageant which had to be canceled because Sloth was late?
---
The Mammon Philosophy
Yes I noticed that when I watched season 1 on DVD. :P
Drink Wilkins Coffee!
...or we'll kill you.
Andrew Eisen
It's also interesting to note that in the early days of the The Muppet Show the characters would smoke. Henson and company thought this was hysterical. Then, in a moment of revelation, Henson realized that kids would be watching and decided he didn't want to negatively influence them, so the ciggies were excised. This indicates Henson believed, at least to some degree, that his shows could influence children. One has to wonder what he thought about those coffee ads in retrospect.
Didn't Cookie Monster have a pipe when he did "Monster-piece Theatre"?
Yeah, but that was because it was a direct parody of Masterpiece Theatre, whose host always had a pipe and smoking jacket.
The 50s were a different time... where you could show massive amounts of violence in cartoons, and it was just fine. Then came the helicopter soccer moms, and they added mature audience disclaimers to classic Sesame Street.
---You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.
Exactly. Advertising practices have changed and will continue to change.
Old coffee ads used to condone spousal abuse in a sense. Most of them show a housewife either getting coffee thrown at her or the aftermath for buying a poor quality coffee. And this was around the 1930s to 1940s iirc.
Uncommon Grounds by Mark Pendergast is a good read if you're interested in food history.
First secure an independent income, then practice virtue. -Greek Proverb
These days it's more acceptable to imply you either don't care about your children or that they might die if you don't buy their products.
There's an advert for washing machine tablets that compares not using their product to sending your child out on a bike ride with only half a helmet. WTF?
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
I blame this mostly on the expansion of communcation technology really, in its power to reach the pockets of every town possible. More areas to observe means more violence to obvesrve, and since we know news networks capitalize on the sensational, you know why it's popular to talk about it.
The amount of OBSERVABLE violence in the world distorts a lot of people's guesses on how much actual violence the world has.
It would be the same logic to say that our universe gave birth to a billion more galaxies in just 100 years, because we have better telescopes and other devices that allows us to look farther.
GameSnooper
I agree with you heartily, but I'm somewhat bemused at the phrase 'helicopter soccer moms'. What in god's name does that mean?
I'm guessing it has something to do with hovering over their kids?
I remember there was some recent kids show that was coping a 50's cartoon show for an episode. They had the cover up half of the show saying "That can't be shown on TV today".
Good grief... the third set of videos for these has a death row/electric chair scene.
Drink Wilkins coffee... or die!
Interesting story, but why post it on GP?
Because ten years ago we had stuff like Tom and Jerry on (i watched one of the episodes a few weeks back) where shooting each other and other deadly acts were all in good cartoon violence, but now stuff like that in games is for some reason dispicable.
That's the good news: if it was made in an era that was acceptable, then it's still acceptable today.
I'm glad they haven't censored Looney Toons or old Hannah-Barbera. I was watching Boomerang with my daughter the other day, and I hadn't realized how inappropriate a lot of that stuff would be today.
To show that violence in media that kids would be interested in does not cause them to imitate the acts. The world would be very different today if this was the case, as evidenced by these wonky old violent commercials.
During the early days of Looney Toons and Tom and Jerry, those cartoons were written with adult audiences in mind. So it is not any wonder that they contain content that might not be "appropriate" for kids.
E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
http://www.theeca.com/chapters_oklahoma
Don't be ridiculous, everyone knows that all cartoons and video games are made for children.
....Phew...I had to read it again just to make sure you weren't being serious. I happen to like the old looney tunes, that was such a great show. I'm just sad that they don't air it on cartoon network anymore =(
-If an apple a day keeps the doctor away....what happens when a doctor eats an apple?-
damn comercials where short back then. today one comercial is about as long as this clip
Antisthenes - Observe your enemies, for they first find out your faults.
Just 10 years ago an hour long program had around 50 minutes of program and maybe 10 minutes of comercials. Now it's closer to 45/15, and thats not counting shows which are basicly 30 minute comercials.
Hunting the shadows of the troubled dreams.
"The system is shit, truth is all that matters." Spider Jerusalem, Transmetropolitian
Normally I wouldn't search for commercials involving muppets. But if anything, thanks for the find. This is something I wanna keep.
What is a game?(throws wine glass on the floor and it breaks to pieces) A miserable little pile of secrets.