Rant Of The Day is where I get to mouth off about whatever I feel like for however long I like. Theoretically, I'll update my whinge/opinion piece every weekday; in practice, maybe not so often.

Major Muppet marketing mistakes

I was, however, somewhat disturbed to find a questionnaire on my buying habits within the package. A copy is reproduced below:

The dumb thing about this questionnaire is how it focuses exclusively on pre-teen Muppet consumers. Questions include "How often do you rent Disney videos for your family?" and "How many children are there in your household?" Now, I'm not denying the existence of the kiddie Muppet market; I braved the little brats to see Muppet Treasure Island at the cinema, after all. But there's more to it than that.

Judging by the correspondence flying around on alt.tv.muppets and the Miss Piggy mailing list I subscribe to, there are a whole heap of Muppet fans floating around who are not children. They may have picked up the habit while young, but they're not young anymore, and their marketing needs go beyond Disney videos "to be enjoyed by the whole family". What we really need are episode-by-episode releases of The Muppet Show and associated rarities on video. Oh, and more Treasure Island soft toys.

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