Thanks guys, I don't feel quite so crazy anymore. I think I was mostly shocked, I took the time to write an email that mostly boiled down to "we're not muppets" and the response felt a little condescending. Yes, you are muppets, but we'll toss you a bone. Ugh.

Don't call me Clay no more...

Our passion for these things can get the better of us sometimes though I think your response was quite eloquent and reasonable. I'm afraid it is something of a lost cause though. Trying to change these language usages is a bit like trying to hold back the ocean.

As someone who was in the video rental industry for over twenty years I spent a lot of time trying to correct various language anomalies. Even while Beta was still around as a video format people referred to EVERY VCR as a VHS. ANY video game (Playstation, Genesis, Dreamcast, 3DO) was a Nintendo. In my years working at the Disney Store I was always amused by the large number of people who would come in looking for toys, DVD's and the like from EVERY new animated movie. I don't know how many times I told a guest, "I'm sorry Shrek isn't a Disney movie."

I think people's brains are just too filled with other things to bother assigning more than one word to these things that matter so little in their lives. I just deal with this particular incorrect usage much the same way I did at the Disney store. I try to see it as compliment to the work that Jim Henson and his crew did and a compliment to me. And then I gently correct them in much the same condescending manner that the comic book guy would on the Simpsons.

You know that I have a hard time not picturing you with yellow skin, now!

Oh, and I DID once own my own video store where I DID sell comic books. So I kind of WAS that guy. Though perhaps not quite as, shall we say...rotund.

I really need a "like" button...

I would have pointed out that 'muppet' is a trademarked name, and Disney is fond of suing people for copyright infringement. Most people don't realise it's copyrighted, nor that there's a difference. Frankly I find most people on the net also don't care about copyrights.

I do think we have a right to ask for the correct language to be used; especially because in this case, it's about the law.

More importantly though, when writing for the general public, most people don't know much about puppetry and the various nuances. I'd say that there is something kind of correct about not wanting to confuse an audience with complicated terminology that require long explanations unless it's absolutely central to the point of the article. We can nitpick about whether or not a shadow puppet can better be described as a rod puppet; but a passing person who wants to know about a cool new video won't care nor take the time to understand.

I also wrote an article about the difference between a 'muppet' and a 'puppet'.
http://www.schoolofpuppetry.com.au/tutorials.php/what-s-the-difference-between-a-muppet-and-a-puppet

Interestingly, I think most of it is to do with the fact that it requires education of people who blog or journalists. There's a science/entertainment exchange which tries to get artists working with scientists in order to get more accurate science (or reality) depictions into artworks. http://blog.scienceandentertainmentexchange.org/
I think it's no different than with puppetry: we just need to educate as much as possible and hope eventually people understand more than the 'puppets = muppets' myth. Additionally, puppeteers actually get sucked into the trap because of the general public: if someone searches for 'muppet' you want them to find your product/site, and so puppeteers/toy makers tend to label their wares according to myth rather than according to fact.

A last word: I had someone leave a comment on my site that you can see at the above article. They called a muppet something I'd never heard before, and so replied via email asking them to elucidate on where they heard it or why they believed it was a correct term used by actual puppeteers. They basically wrote back that they read it on some website - no URL or name provided - and that I couldn't change their minds about it.

Fact is, some people just assume that every website has trustworthy info on it and there's no getting around some of the myths out there regurgitated and unchecked from a reliable source. And the only crank in the room is the one who isn't willing to accept new info from a person who has actually studied the subject in detail.

@VW... I've had similar experiences.

@Cruppetman, Speaking of unusual terms, Nana Projects uses shadow puppets and call themselves 'lanterneers'. I always liked that.

No a Muppet is more of a marionette hence the M before uppet that's why they call it a muppet marionette puppet

Where do these people get this stuff!  I liked your reply to them.   To read Na's reply see the original article at the very bottom of the page.
http://www.schoolofpuppetry.com.au/tutorials.php/what-s-the-difference-between-a-muppet-and-a-puppet

I thought 'Muppets' was  from  'Monster Puppets'... well, at least that is what I remember Jim Henson saying in an interview once. That name stuck for a great number of years, and broadly described any kind of puppet that  might fit into the 'Muppet Show', but then Disney  bought the Muppets in 2004 I think it was, so it is now loosing its strength as a term, because more people are  realizing that Disney owns the 'Muppets' now and so the  term does not refer to anything the Hensons might make any more, and so 'Puppets' the correct term, is now  making a comeback, and freeing us all from the Henson  monopoly on Puppetry (he's my puppetry hero actually). The question will be whether Disney will manage to keep the term alive. I somehow doubt it, because Disney is Disney, Henson was Henson , and there is a lot of new talent in the wings who will give  Disney a run for their money, even though Disney will put puppetry back on the map after a few decades of quiet by investing lots of money in promoting their new form of 'Muppets'. Disney, merely by trying to protect the term, will destroy the hold it had, because no-one but they are allowed to use the term, so everyone else must use another term, and in sodoing, weaken the term 'Muppets', and getting back to 'Puppets'.

It was either Family Guy or The Simpson's that had a joke that Muppet is a combination of "puppet" and "mop" It sounds like it's only slightly less likely than some of the other stories... ;D

Where do these people get this stuff!  I liked your reply to them.   To read Na's reply see the original article at the very bottom of the page.
http://www.schoolofpuppetry.com.au/tutorials.php/what-s-the-difference-between-a-muppet-and-a-puppet

It's because people mangle three different myths... or rather three regurgitated ideas. It doesn't help that Henson himself gave 2 different reasons behind the name, and so people get confused as to what the word is all about. Someone writes using the marionette/muppet reason, or hears about it as a rumour, doesn't bother to check original sources, someone else sees that article/hears it, repeats it... and so on.

@DrMegan, it was The Simpsons - Homer says it. And funnily enough, I'd guess that might add to the confusion.