Peanuts Fans Celebrate Halloween with Social Media Game
September 8, 2010 by Paris Permenter and John Bigley
Filed under Dog Contests, News
Since childhood, we’ve both loved PEANUTS (Paris’ first dog was named Peanut!) and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! is still a must-watch TV event at our house every year. We were so interested when we received this news about a new social media game for Peanuts fans!
Maybe it’s Linus waiting in the pumpkin patch for the appearance of the Great Pumpkin. Or Charlie Brown looking in his trick-or-treat bag and saying, “I got a rock.” Or Snoopy in his Halloween costume as the World War I Flying Ace. Everyone has a favorite PEANUTS Halloween memory.
No wonder, since Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy and the gang have been celebrating the holiday for 60 years—ever since Charles Schulz published his first PEANUTS comic strip on October 2, 1950. That’s six decades in which to gather a treasure trove of great memories—which grow even richer when you share them with your friends.
That’s exactly the fun of the brand-new “Countdown to the Great Pumpkin” social media game launched Tuesday, September 7. PEANUTS fans can share their favorite PEANUTS quotes, videos, pictures, news and more via their social media accounts—and in the process, earn points toward a custom PEANUTS pre-loaded iPad!
The winner will have a chance to win an additional $25,000. Weekly winners will receive prizes throughout the contest including The PEANUTS Collection from Little, Brown and Co.; Snoopy Flying Ace Xbox game from Smart Bomb Interactive; It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown from Running Press; and the Deluxe Holiday Collection 3-pack DVD set from Warner Home Video.
Members of the Schulz family—including Charles Schulz’s son Craig, daughter Jill, and widow, Jeannie—will be playing along, offering their own PEANUTS memories and suggesting some of the daily to-dos.
“One of the things that has always given me the most pleasure about PEANUTS is the way it creates a joyful bond between people,” says Craig Schulz. “Using social media is an excellent way to share your love of those classic PEANUTS moments that have been a part of your life for so long—and what could be better than the fact that now you can get rewarded for it, too!”
The Details: Through October 31, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare and MySpace users can visit www.greatpumpkincountdown.com and register their accounts to participate in the “Countdown to the Great Pumpkin” game. Players will earn points by completing the “Daily To-Do”—a different PEANUTS-themed task each day.
Among the “To-Dos” are special activities linked to new PEANUTS-themed exhibits at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., and at the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California. On October 1, a special photograph of Charles Schulz by famed photographer Yousuf Karsh will be unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery. Game participants will be asked to update their status to announce the induction, and to “Like” the Charles M. Schulz Museum’s Facebook page.
“It’s a tribute to Sparky’s great genius that his portrait will hang in the National Portrait Gallery and that he has an entire museum devoted to his work,” says Jeanne Schulz, widow of Charles “Sparky” Schulz. “We wanted to be sure and include these museum events as part of the Countdown to the Great Pumpkin, so that everyone knows they can enjoy the art of PEANUTS any time of year.”
Other “To-Dos” include:
- updating your status with special PEANUTS Halloween quotes
- changing your profile picture to a PEANUTS character
- sharing a favorite PEANUTS video or comic strip
- posting pictures of PEANUTS characters in their original 1950s look
Prizes: The player with the most points at the end of the game will win a specially customized Apple iPad that comes pre-loaded with a variety of classic PEANUTS comic strips, books, and videos—including, of course, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!). Each week, the player who earns the most points will receive a special PEANUTS gift package worth at least $75—so it pays to keep playing the Countdown all week long.
The grand prize winner will then have a chance at an additional $25,000 prize if he or she picks the correct two out of fifteen sealed envelopes.
“Needless to say, Halloween was always a great time at our house when Craig and I were growing up—though of course we had a variety of ‘characters’ living with us all year long!” says Jill Schulz, daughter of Charles Schulz. “This year the holiday will have special meaning for me, for my own children—and for PEANUTS fans of all ages. I can see people bonding over shared memories as they start PEANUTS-related conversations with their old and new friends during Countdown to the Great Pumpkin.”
Photo courtesy PEANUTS Worldwide
About Paris Permenter and John Bigley
DogTipper publishers Paris Permenter and John Bigley are a husband-wife team of full-time writers. The couple has authored over two dozen books and 2,500+ magazine articles.
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