I'm 30 years old. Anyone plus-or-minus ten years of me has probably been influenced in their childhood by muppets. From Sesame Street to The Muppet Show and beyond, Jim Henson's creations played a heavy role in late 20th century pop culture.
And they're making a comeback, 21st century style.
When a muppet movie was green-lighted, the PR team for this movie went to work. The plot of the movie is "Are muppets relevant anymore?" with the main focus of showing this generation what muppets are all about.
How do you target this younger generation of movie goer?
The INTERNET!
In November 2009, they launched this video:
It was an instant hit, getting millions of views and being passed around Facebook pages galore.
Speaking of Facebook, the muppets are there as well.
Any major social media outlet has been infested with muppet-dom. Even Miss Piggy, The Swedish Chef, and a host of other muppets are on twitter, tweeting regularly (and in character).
I mean, come on. Beaker getting involved in a wrestling match, handing Santino Marella a concoction that helps him win the match. When is the last time you saw Julia Roberts do this for one of HER movies? What about Leo DiCaprio?
Again, the plot of the movie is "Are the muppets relevant anymore?" They're marketing tactics are making sure they are. Gen X'ers are loving every bit of it. Gen Y'ers and the newest generation (Generation Internet? iGeneration?) are getting a taste of what made the muppets hilarious in the 70's and 80's. They are fuckin crazy, and will make you laugh in unconventional ways.
Businesses. Entrepreneurs. Learn from the muppets. If you're going to market yourself, go all out, and get as unconventional (read: CRAZY) as possible.
