Groovies

Even if they aren't very good when it comes to mounting guerilla marketing campaigns in Boston, one thing the Cartoon Network has really set the bar on is keeping their video content from being shown online without their consent or control. Regardless of what side of this fence you sit on idelologically, it's hard to deny that the strategy this network is using is paying off for them.

Instead of suing little kids who download their stuff, the execs at CN have taken a page from the books of musical acts who are trying to fight file sharing and have literally flooded sites like YouTube with snippets of their own shows. From a practical standpoint it makes sense, because it becomes harder for non-consented content to be found and shared.

But the problem (leading back to one of the primary complaints in favor of more open file sharing in all arenas) is that you end up only getting to see what the Network makes available for you to look at. Which is a shame because like so many other media outlets, Cartoon Network's fledgling days were a treasure trove of unique ideas, outside the box thinking, and plain old fun.

For example, to help drum up interest for shows animated in the 60's that might not have immediatley appealed to more modern audiences, CN created a series of commercials called "Groovies" that were basically music videos based on the quirks of many of their more popular characters. To add to the appeal, the music spanned a wide variety of genres and was composed and performed by then-envelope pushing artists.

It might make for a long post, but you never know when things like this are gonna get pulled for usage violations.

So while they last -- here are some of the best: