"Proud as a Peacock" was the advertising campaign used by the NBC television and radio networks from 1979 to 1981. The campaign was used to promote NBC's programming and to introduce the "Proud N", a logo that would be used until 1986.
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The campaign
By 1979, NBC was deeply mired in third place in the Nielsen ratings. Fred Silverman, who joined the network a year earlier, could not bring the same ratings success he had as programming whiz at ABC and CBS, resulting in a string of programs, such as Supertrain, 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 (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 (see lyrics below).
The 1979-80 season "Proud" campaign promos were produced in New York for NBC's radio and television networks, and customized versions were produced for the network's affiliates. The campaign was introduced in the Summer of 1979, in time to promote the network's Fall 1979 lineup, and was used again in the 1980-81 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 Prairie and Diff'rent Strokes and the miniseries Shogun were countered by a flood of failed new programming (such as Pink Lady and Jeff), 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 20 shows in both the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons.
- In addition, to add injury to insult, NBC was forced to cancel plans to cover the 1980 Summer Olympics in the wake of the United States’ boycott of the Moscow Games, resulting in many millions of dollars lost in rights fees, facility/equipment investments, and potential ad revenue.[1] The loss of the Olympics combined with several failed shows nearly doomed the network.
The continued failures led to ridicule of the "Proud" campaign both outside the network and inside (see below). Silverman would leave NBC in the summer of 1981; that fall, the network would adopt a slightly new campaign, "Our Pride Is Showing," with little difference in ratings.
Lyrics (1979-1980 Campaign)
Puttin' on a whole new face
Dressin' up with lots of style
Puttin' on a special look
Breakin' out a great big smile
Gonna spread our wings and reach right up to the stars
No one is prouder than we are
Add a touch of mystery
Take a look at all that's new
Share a taste of victory
Feelin' some nostalgia too
Gonna spread our wings and be the best you can see
No one is prouder than we are
Goin' up to set some trips
Gonna laugh and dance and sing
Visit with some dear old friends
Gonna topple everything
Gonna spread our wings and show off all that we've got
NBC - Proud as a peacock!
Notable Localized Versions
1979-1980
- WSB-TV (now an ABC affiliate) in Atlanta - "Channel 2, Proud as a Peacock"
- WMAQ-TV in Chicago - "Channel 5, Proud as a Peacock"
- WKYC in Cleveland - "Channel 3, Proud as a Peacock"
- WAPI in Birmingham - "13, Proud as a Peacock!"
- KSBW in Salinas, CA - "KSBW TV-8, Proud as a Peacock!"
- WBBH-TV in Fort Myers - "20, Proud as a Peacock!"
- KNBC-TV in Los Angeles - "Channel 4, Proud as a Peacock
- WNBC-TV in New York City - Same as KNBC-TV
- WMC-TV in Memphis - "Channel 5, Proud as a Peacock!"
- KYW-TV (now a CBS O&O station) in Philadelphia - Same as WKYC
- WFMJ-TV in Youngstown, OH - "21, Proud as a Peacock!"
- WAFF-TV in Huntsville, AL/Decatur, AL - "48, Proud as a Peacock!"
- WLBT in Jackson, MS - "TV-3, Proud as a Peacock!"
- A batch of localized Proud as a Peacock IDs for KSBW, WBBH, WMC, and WFMJ
1980-1981
- WNDU-TV in South Bend, IN: "Channel 16, Proud as a Peacock!" (also used to launch the 5:00 news at the time)
- WESH-TV in Orlando: "Channel 2, Proud as a Peacock!"
- WRC-TV in Washington, DC: "Channel 4, Proud as a Peacock!"
- WKYC-TV in Cleveland: "Channel 3, Proud as a Peacock!"
- KTVE in El Dorado, AR/Monroe, LA: "Channel 10, Proud as a Peacock!"
- KHAS-TV in Hastings, NE/Kearney, NE/Grand Island, NE: "Channel 5, Proud as a Peacock!"
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 1980-81 "We're Proud" campaign, recorded by the same production studio NBC employed for "We're Proud" and using the same voice cast used for the original "Proud as a Peacock" campaign. "We're 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 some local affiliates on cassettes as jokes at Christmas time.
The joke ended, however, when Don Imus, morning drive-time host at WNBC, NBC Radio's New York City flagship, played the parody on the air. Angered by Imus' move, Silverman ordered a search-and-destroy mission to purge the network of any remaining copy of the parody. However, many copies of the parody remained, albeit ones that were of poor audio quality and not fit for broadcast. Good copies of the parody can still be found on the WNBC Radio 66 Tribute page as well as the "TV Party" nostalgia site.
The "We're LOUD!" Lyrics
We're LOUD! -- ah huh -- say it again,
NBC
We're LOUD!
We're in last place,
LOUD!
We're gonna fall right on our face
LOUD!
Since Freddy came our ratings always stayed the same
An 18 rating, a 14 share,
Bet ya wonder if we care
NO!
We're just proud to be NBC,
We're LOUD!
We're livin in the past,
LOUD!
The bottom's droppin' out real fast
(LOUD!)
Of our boring shows, just watch us jam 'em up your nose
We don't care, it's all there, NBC is always there,
We're not just proud, weeee're also LOUD!
We're LOUD!
We're louder than the rest
So LOUD!
It doesn't matter we're not the best
LOUD!
We're gonna screw around and run this network in the ground
The peacock's dead, so thank you, Fred
Yeah! -- THANKS A WHOLE LOT!!
NBC, Proud as a Peacock!
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 peafowl (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."
Other Usage and Parodies
- Even though the slogan was first used during a dark time at NBC, "Proud as a Peacock" has had lasting use as a descriptive of the network, both in the news media's coverage of the network and in press releases. The following headlines are examples:
- "(Dick) Ebersol Proud as a Peacock over NBC and the Games", from a July 2005 New York Times article
- "NBC proud as a peacock to be back with the NFL", from a September 2006 Boston Globe article
- "Proud as a Peacock: NBC Leads in 2006 TCA Awards" from a 2006 Television Critics Association press release
- Seven Network's ATN-7 in Sydney, Australia used a variation of "Proud as a Peacock" in 1981, called "Channel 7's Proud in Sydney (We're Proud)."
- "Weird Al" Yankovic made a parody of the campaign for MTV in the mid-1980s, called "Proud as a Moon Man."