Proud as a Peacock

The campaign

By 1979, NBC had fallen to third place in the ratings. This was partially the fault of Fred Silverman, a network executive who previously led CBS and ABC to the top of the ratings.

During Silverman's tenure as president of NBC dozens of new shows failed, among them Supertrain and Pink Lady and Jeff. The 1980-81 season was the low point for NBC-the network had only three shows (Little House on the Prairie at 10th, Real People at 12th, and Diff'rent Strokes in a 3-way tie for 17th) in the Nielsen top 20. This was unheard of in a time when there were only 3 major networks. In addition, NBC paid $87 million to broadcast the 1980 Summer Olympics, only to lose an estimated $80 million in ad revenue (in addition to its initial investment) when the Games were boycotted by the United States.

In an attempt to present a positive image in the face of failure, an ad campaign called "Proud as a Peacock" was used, complete with a revised version of the famous NBC Peacock. However, the slogan only generated ridicule. The most infamous parody of the campaign was "We're Loud/Loud as a Peacock", which was recorded by the same ad agency that NBC hired to produce "Proud as a Peacock".

The 1979 campaign had a customization for WAPI (now WVTM) in Birmingham, while the 1980 campaign had a customization for WESH in Orlando.

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 tailfeathers, 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'.

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