The Meaning of Christmas

Last night as I tuned in to watch a few minutes of the Seattle Seahawks pummel the Philadelphia Eagles 42-0 on Monday Night Football (I don't normally watch American gridiron... erm, football, but I don't want my ex-pat pal DGA in Belgium to give me too much guff for my passion for the beautiful game and my support for the Chelsea Football Club), I noticed that ABC was now presenting A Charlie Brown Christmas. In my youth, it (and all the other Charlie Brown specials) had been on CBS (and were typically sponsored by Dolly Madison cakes, which despite the high profile advertising were always going to be second rate to me compared with Twinkies and Ho Ho's and Ding Dongs from Hostess). And now, thanks to this LATimes article, I think I have a sense why:

In a twist that might make its round-headed hero exclaim, "Good grief," Charles M. Schulz's "A Charlie Brown Christmas" — the animated television special about love conquering materialism that airs tonight on ABC — now fuels a $1.2-billion-a-year global publishing, merchandising and marketing machine.

Millions of Americans will tune in, as they have every December for 40 years, to watch Charlie Brown and his gang learn that friendship and faith are more important than presents.

And this year, as every year, advertisers clamored to buy time during the cartoon to hype their holiday movies and toys. So many advertisers, in fact, that ABC had to turn some away.

"They chase us for this show," said Geri Wang, ABC's senior vice president for prime-time sales. "It provides a safe, warm and family-feel-good message."

Those who got into the coveted program paid as much as $200,000 for each 30-second spot, which is more than what advertisers have paid for such hot new hits as ABC's "Commander in Chief."

That is just one reason Schulz's estate, the Charles M. Schulz Creative Assn., earned an estimated $35 million in 2004, according to Forbes magazine. Powered by "Peanuts"-related products that include clothing, cosmetics, dishes, toys and stationery, Schulz has become the second-most-profitable "dead celebrity," Forbes found, with only the estate of Elvis Presley collecting more.

And here's a reminder why this is just a little ironic:

In December 1965, the first viewers tuned in to see snowflakes gently falling on a frozen pond. Charlie Brown and his friend Linus trudge through the snow with ice skates slung over their shoulders. They stop at a brick wall.

"I think there's something wrong with me," Charlie Brown confides, his round head cupped in his hand. "Christmas is coming, but I'm not happy. I just don't feel the way I'm supposed to feel."

To cure his depression, he consults with Lucy at her 5-cent psychiatric booth. She ultimately tells him: "Let's face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket." Then she lowers her voice: "It's run by a big Eastern syndicate, you know."

Happy holidays, everyone!