Alfred E. Neuman - Cultural Impact

Cultural Impact

Over the decades, Neuman has frequently been referenced in outside media, and his face has often appeared in political cartoons as a shorthand for unquestioning stupidity. During the administration of United States President George W. Bush, Alfred E. Neuman's features were frequently merged with those of Bush by editorial cartoonists such as Mike Luckovich and Tom Tomorrow. The image has also appeared on magazine covers, notably The Nation. A large Bush/Neuman poster was part of the Washington protests that accompanied Bush's 2001 inauguration. The alleged resemblance between the two has been noted more than once by Hillary Clinton. On July 10, 2005, speaking at the Aspen Institute's Ideas Festival, she said, "I sometimes feel that Alfred E. Neuman is in charge in Washington," referring to Bush's purported "What, me worry?" attitude. At the October 2008 Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, then-Presidential candidate Barack Obama joked, "It's often been said that I share the politics of Alfred E. Smith and the ears of Alfred E. Neuman." Neuman's features have also been compared to others in the public eye, including Prince Charles, Ted Koppel, Oliver North and David Letterman.

Freas painted the August 1971 cover of National Lampoon which merged Neuman's features with those of the court-martialed Vietnam War murderer William Calley, complete with the phrase, 'What, My Lai?" However, Neuman's motto has also been referenced in a non-pejorative fashion, as at the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969. Jimi Hendrix spoke to the audience about the various changes of personnel in his band, and their lack of rehearsal time, while saying "What, me worry?" The tenth American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, has a striking resemblance to Alfred E. Neuman. When judge Steven Tyler pointed this out on the show, McCreery replied, "What, me worry?"

In an extended sequence of the comic strip Peanuts from 1973 (later recreated in the 1983 TV special It's An Adventure, Charlie Brown), Charlie Brown becomes so obsessed with baseball that everything round starts looking like a baseball to him. Soon his own round head develops a rash that makes the back of his skull look like a baseball, and he starts wearing a paper bag on his head to hide it. Ironically, while hidden from view, his popularity and respect increase. He is referred to by the other campers as "Mr. Sack" or "Sack", but is also voted camp president and is widely admired. The rash eventually fades from his head, but Charlie Brown still fears that the next round thing he expects to see—a sunrise—may continue to look like a baseball. When the sun does rise, it instead looks like Alfred E. Neuman, with a halo reading: "What! Me Worry?"! Neuman also appeared as a sight gag in the March 27, 1967 installment of the comic strip Beetle Bailey, as an inspector general. He can also be spotted in The Amazing Spider-Man #300, helping Peter Parker and Mary Jane move into their new house, while saying, "Darn! I'm missing the Nets game! That makes me Mad!". Similarly, when, in 1959's Superman #126, Superman decides to test Lois Lane by removing a rubber Superman mask in order to reveal his "real" identity, his identity is none other than Alfred E. Neuman. DC Comics' "Emperor Joker" storyline includes a cult that worships a deity named Alfred E.; the high priest of this cult wears a mask identical to Alfred E. Neuman's face.

Neuman and Mad have been referenced several times on the animated series The Simpsons. In the episode Marge in Chains, Marge is arrested and in prison she meets an inmate called Tattoo Annie who has a fold-in tattoo that reveals Alfred E. Neuman with the text: "What me Worry?". The original phrase was "What kind of slime would I marry?". In the episode The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson, Bart comes into contact with Alfred E. Neuman during a visit to the Mad offices. Neuman demands to see "Kaputnik and Fonebone" (which are references to deceased long-time Mad artists Dave Berg and Don Martin, respectively) for their work on New Kids on the Blecch (which would later become the title of another episode), and requests some "furshlugginer pastrami sandwiches". An awestruck Bart announces that he will "never wash these eyes again". In the episode New Kids on the Blecch, Bart's boy band is booked to play a gig on an aircraft carrier, but their band manager plots to use the craft's weaponry to destroy the Mad offices when he discovers the magazine plans to publish a defamatory article about the band. Mad's New York headquarters were depicted as a skyscraper similar to the Chrysler Building with a giant three-dimensional replica of Alfred's head mounted on the roof. In the episode "Father Knows Worst," Homer and Bart Simpson visit a hobby shop which includes an Aurora model-style kit of Neuman holding several protest signs.

In a segment of his 1958 television special, Fred Astaire danced while wearing a rubber Neuman mask. An episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 made multiple references to Neuman, including episode #602 featuring Invasion U.S.A. Upon seeing director Alfred E. Green's name in the film's opening credits, Crow T. Robot, in a slightly idiotic tone, riffs "What? Me direct?" An animated 1996 sketch on MADtv combining Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with The Godfather was credited to "Alfred E. Puzo" and "Francis E. Neuman".

Another reworked name was "Al Freddy Newham," depicted on the cover of the April 1967 issue of the amateur radio enthusiast's 73 Magazine, preparing to ineptly solder the frayed cord of a soldering gun with the same damaged gun. Alfred E. Neuman appears briefly, in clay animated form, in Jimmy Picker's 1983 stop motion animated film, Sundae in New York. He also makes a cameo in the 1988 Daffy Duck cartoon Night of the Living Duck. A doodle of Neuman appears on a soldier's helmet in Oliver Stone's 1986 Vietnam film Platoon. Lyrically, Alfred E. Neuman is invoked by the Beastie Boys on their song "Shadrach," from their second studio album, Paul's Boutique. A 1980 Password Plus episode featured Neuman's name as an answer, using the clues "Ugly," "Mad," "Magazine," "Cover," and "Kid". (Elaine Joyce solved the puzzle after "Cover"). He can be glimpsed holding a fish on the cover of the album Slow Motion by Man.

A statue of Alfred E. Neuman can be found at the Dort Mall in Flint, Michigan.