Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom: The power of advertising

Marlin Perkins was the host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom,

which aired on CBC Channel 9 for years.

Source: https://www.tvinsider.com/

(May be subject to copyright)

As a journalist, I receive hundreds of news releases every week, but a few weeks ago, three simple words in the headline of one caught my attention – “Mutual of Omaha”.

It took me back to a time when we had only three channels and, in the dead of winter or the height of boredom, would watch anything.

Beyond that, it reminded me of a show with a kind, professorial man sending his assistant into precarious situations with wild animals. It was also my first exposure to product placement and sponsorship.

It was called “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom”.

Watching whatever
It is hard to remember what peasant vision was really like. You literally could switch between all the channels in an instant, and almost watch two shows at once.

That three-channel universe should have meant there was always something to watch, especially because no channel ran 24 hours a day. They went off the air at midnight, and started at like either 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. Yet, at that time, there weren’t as many people making shows, and there wasn’t as big a body of work as now.

That’s why I always smile when I hear someone in today’s day and age say “There’s nothing on TV.” There sure is because, back in the 1980s, there really wasn’t.

It was even more pronounced on Saturday mornings, and on CBC. They would run this mix of re-runs such as "Bonanza", "Star Trek", "The Forest Rangers" and seemingly whatever else they could find including an old show about wildlife.

The show
I don’t have any firm memories of any episode of “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom”. Instead, I remember the introduction where the screen essentially went blank and silent and suddenly this booming voice announces, “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom”, and that it was hosted by Marlin Perkins.

He was a white-haired gentleman with an authoritative voice, with a man in the field named Jim Fowler. The running joke was that Perkins would be in the studio, or at a safe distance, while Jim would be tangling with some animal or another.

Brought to you by…
Throughout the time I watched “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” on Channel 9, usually as background noise, it never occurred to me what Mutual of Omaha was.

I had heard about businesses sponsoring TV shows from the history of American television, but I never really made the connection.

Part of that was I never really knew what Mutual of Omaha did. I had never run into that name anywhere other than on the TV show. It wasn’t like Coke or Kraft or General Electric which were, or had been, in my house.

It turns out Mutual of Omaha is an insurance company that is still going strong.

History
It turns out that “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” ran from 1963 to 1971, then went into first-run syndication from 1971 to 1988. It would be revived and shown on the pay TV channel Animal Planet from 2002 to 2011. Web episodes were shown on a YouTube channel from 2013 to 2018. Now, a fourth version, a re-boot of sorts, is being planned for launch in October of 2023.

Parting thoughts
A guy I went to university with once said something that will always stick with me. I was sitting in the lounge of our floor is res, and Greg asked me what I was doing. I said I had some homework to do, but couldn’t get motivated. Worse, I said, it was good homework. Yet, there I was, sitting in front of the TV.

He responded simply, “The worst television is still better than the best homework.”

There were no truer words.

And that describes peasant vision in a nutshell.

The worst TV was still better than the best whatever else.

Now, my mom and grandfather loved shows about wildlife and animals, and often I was sitting with them when they watched “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom”. At other times, I would just turn on the TV for background noise, which I still do, and “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” would be on. The show just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Yet, when I heard that firm, confident voice announce, “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom”, I snapped to attention. It caught my eye.

To this day, as I sit and type this, I can hear that voice.

I didn’t even know what Mutual of Omaha was, but the name has stuck with me more than 45 years.

That’s the power of advertising.