A Christmastime Petition: Bring the Peanuts Specials Back to Broadcast TV!
Or, Some Remarks on the New Snoopy Fever
Gen Z has officially caught “Snoopymania.”
According to this article from The Wall Street Journal (https://www.wsj.com/style/cvs-puffer-snoopy-toy-gen-z-aab5f7d6), “the latest Gen-Z obsession is a $13.99 stuffed Snoopy toy wearing a little blue puffer and a striped hat.” Some people are paying well above that relatively modest asking price, with the toy being resold for as much as $70. “And on TikTok,” WSJ journalist Ashley Wong says, “young consumers are documenting their quests to get their hands on the stuffed beagle.”
Not to say that this struggle for Snoopy gear is just about stuffed animals either. Many my age are buying Vera Bradley Snoopy backpacks, Snoopy advent calendars, Snoopy shirts, Snoopy blankets, and all other sorts of Snoopy knicknacks—including Snoopy merchandise from, yes, none other than the American Red Cross. And let’s not forget the onslaught of Snoopy memes, and Snoopy shows, and other harbingers of “the Snoopy renaissance.”
Normally, I must admit, I am behind these types of trends by at least 1-2 years. At any rate, I doubt whether I will be paying my $70 for the new Snoopy stuffed animal. Still, to those many many young Snoopy fans out there—and to those older Snoopy fans too—I would like to ask you to visit or perhaps revisit this petition on Change.org (https://www.change.org/p/wildbrain-studios-bring-the-peanuts-specials-back-to-broadcast-tv).
Per the petition, “for over 50 years, we have celebrated the holidays with the airings of the Peanuts specials on TV—first on CBS, then on ABC. To our shock and dismay,…it was announced that Apple swiped the football from us and claimed the specials for their Apple TV platform, leaving us devoted fans who have grown up with Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang in the dark, unable to watch” (emphasis not mine).
It has now been 3 years since this petition was first written. It currently has 269, 332 signatures. It is thus one of Change.org’s most popular petitions, even at times warranting multiple national news articles (for example, https://decider.com/2023/10/13/peanuts-fans-petition-great-pumpkin-abc-apple-tv-two-years-later/).
Unfortunately, Apple seems content now to ride out the intial wave of support and public scrutiny. That is where you, young Snoopy fans and old, come in. If there is one thing we can all agree on, it should be that Snoopy should be available to the entire viewing and consuming public. After all, he and the rest of the Peanuts gang have been fixtures in our living rooms for the past 60 years. And with greater political polarization, divisions, and hostility, preserving the traditions like these that unite all of us should practically be a national priority. Why should that change because Apple wants to add just a little bit more to its $3 trillion market capitalization?
The Snoopy nostalgia should tell us that traditions are a lot more valuable than Apple’s profit margin. So I ask that today you consider signing and sharing this petition. Let’s take that football back.
And Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Happy Kwanzaa! And, though I am a little late to this, happy Bodhi Day too!