Proud as a Peacock
Encyclopedia
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
and radio
Radio network
There are two types of radio networks currently in use around the world: the one-to-many broadcast type commonly used for public information and mass media entertainment; and the two-way type used more commonly for public safety and public services such as police, fire, taxicabs, and delivery...
networks from 1979-1981. The campaign was used to promote NBC's programming and to introduce the "Proud N", a logo that would be used until 1986.
The campaign
By 1979, NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
was deeply mired in third place in the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
. Fred Silverman
Fred Silverman
Fred Silverman is an American television executive and producer. He worked as an executive at the CBS, ABC and NBC networks, and was responsible for bringing to television such programs as the series Scooby-Doo , All in the Family , The Waltons , and Charlie's Angels , as well as the...
, who joined the network a year earlier, could not bring the same ratings success he had as programming whiz at ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, resulting in a string of programs (such as Supertrain
Supertrain
Supertrain is an American television drama/adventure series that ran on NBC from February 7 to May 5, 1979. Nine episodes were made, including a 2-hour pilot episode.-Overview:...
) that were derided by critics and/or tuned out by viewers.
In an attempt to present a positive image in the face of this failure, Silverman and NBC developed an ad campaign called "Proud as a Peacock". The campaign featured a revised version of the famous NBC Peacock logo, billed as the "Proud N", along with a catchy high-energy jingle
Jingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
(written for NBC by Joey Levine from Crushing Enterprises) that promotes a network ready to shed its losing reputation and project an image of excitement in its programming. Future R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
singing legend Luther Vandross
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
was among the artists who performed on the jingle.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
for NBC's radio and television networks, and customized versions were produced for the network's affiliates. The campaign was introduced in Summer 1979 to promote the network's Fall lineup, and was used again in the 1980-1981 season with a revised jingle - "We're Proud!"
Despite the network's effort at "puttin' on a whole new face", NBC's difficulties continued unabated:
- Successes such as Little House on the PrairieLittle House on the Prairie (TV series)Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
and Diff'rent StrokesDiff'rent StrokesDiff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from November 3, 1978 to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985 to March 7, 1986...
and the miniseries ShogunShogun (TV miniseries)Shōgun is an American television miniseries based on the namesake novel by James Clavell. As with the novel, the title is often shown as Shōgun in order to conform to Hepburn romanization. The miniseries was broadcast over five nights, between September 15 and September 19, 1980 on NBC in the...
were countered by a flood of failed new programming (such as Pink Lady and JeffPink Lady and JeffPink Lady is an American variety show that aired for five weeks on NBC in 1980, starring the musical duo of the same name. The show is most commonly referred to by the title Pink Lady and Jeff, which refers to co-star Jeff Altman...
), which led to near-daily schedule changes. - As a result, NBC continued to lag in last place behind CBS and ABC, producing only three Nielsen Top 20Nielsen RatingsNielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
shows in both the 1979-1980 and 1980-1981 seasons. - To add injury to insult, NBC was forced to cancel plans to cover the 1980 Summer Olympics1980 Summer OlympicsThe 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
in the wake of the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
' boycott of the MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
Games, resulting in many millions of dollars lost in rights fees, facility/equipment investments, and potential ad revenue.
The continued failures led to ridicule of the "Proud" campaign both outside the network and inside (see below). Silverman would leave NBC in Summer 1981; that Fall, the network adopted a slightly new campaign - "Our Pride Is Showing" - with little difference in ratings.
The "We're LOUD!" parody
The moves (and failures) of NBC under Fred Silverman’s management generated a feeling of frustration and embarrassment among many of the network’s employees; they were not as proud of the network as the "Proud" campaign suggested, and a few inside staffers composed an alternative jingle to express their disappointment."We're Loud - Proud as a Peacock" was a radio-style parody of NBC's 1980-1981 "We're Proud" campaign, recorded by the same production studio the network employed for "Proud" and using the same voice cast used for the original "Proud" campaign. "Loud" voiced the disappointment that many of NBC's employees felt under Silverman's leadership. The jingle was widely circulated to network staff and even sent out to local affiliates on cassettes as a joke at Christmastime.
The joke ended when Don Imus
Don Imus
John Donald "Don" Imus, Jr. is an American radio host, humorist, philanthropist and writer. His nationally-syndicated talk show, Imus in the Morning, is broadcast throughout the United States by Citadel Media and relayed on television by the Fox Business Network.-Personal life:Imus was born in...
, morning drive-time host at WNBC radio
WNBC (AM)
WNBC was a radio station that operated in New York City from 1922 to 1988. For most of its history, it was the flagship station of the NBC Radio Network...
in New York, played the parody on-air. Angered by Imus' move, Silverman ordered a search-and-destroy mission to purge the network of any remaining copies of the parody. However, many copies remained, albeit poor audio quality and not fit for broadcast.
Meaning of the phrase
"Proud as a peacock" is a saying that is used to mean a vain or self-centered person. The phrase comes from the plumage of the male peafowlPeafowl
Peafowl are two Asiatic species of flying birds in the genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae, best known for the male's extravagant eye-spotted tail, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen, and the offspring peachicks. The adult female...
(females are peahens). When a male is courting, he spreads his tail feathers, sometimes five feet in length, out in a fan pattern to attract a female. Thus, someone who is "proud as a peacock" is similarly "strutting his stuff."