Are The Muppets Brainwashing Kids Against Big Oil and Promoting a Liberal Agenda? Fox News Thinks So

Oh Fox News, your silliness knows no bounds. When the conservative news network isn’t busy castigating videogames, they take a break to let everyone know that The Muppets are busy brainwashing your children against big oil and promoting a liberal agenda.

Yes, liberal Hollywood is at it again, and according to various Fox talking-heads, they’re after our most precious national treasure — the hearts and minds of children. One “analyst” goes so far as to lump the Muppets in with Syriana and There Will Be Blood when it comes to promoting the anti-oil agenda – and what a triple bill that would be. Kermit’s subversiveness doesn’t stop there, though – he’s not just anti-oil, he’s anti-capitalism in general. Nefarious villain Tex Richman is evil because he’s rich in Fox News’ eyes, therefore teaching all the young and impressionable children to be socialists who despise the wealthy. Watch the clip below, which is almost as funny as The Muppets newest movie, albeit for all the wrong reasons.

Of course, radical right isn’t the only group to take exception to the recent Muppet Renaissance – there have been rumblings across the board that Jim Henson’s creations have “sold out” in the marketing blitz for the new film. It’s an interesting topic of debate, except that it’s nothing new.

IFC points out that Henson was using his Muppet characters to sell products long before the characters ever had their own television show or appeared in a feature film. A quick perusal of YouTube turned up clips featuring Rowlf the Dog pitching Purina way back in 1962 and Cookie Monster fiending not for cookies, but a chip-like product called “Munchos” back in 1969 (which was the year Sesame Street debuted).

As it turns out, Henson used commercials to boost his income, allowing him the opportunity to expand his fledgling Muppet empire. So, if you think this current case of Muppet mania is some sort of sell out, think again. Kermit and company have been pitchmen for a very long time.

What kind of bitter, cynical world are we living in when even The Muppets are a cause for outrage? 

[via /Film and IFC]