Save Jericho Again was put together by the following people:
GeneralPatton43 - Chris Witman
RedSox - Barney Murphree
Rubberpoultry - Jason Moore
Scoobud - Steve Wood
Welcome2Cho - Julie Horton
For press inquiries or to contact us: info@savejerichoagain.com
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SAVE JERICHO AGAIN: How’d they do that?
Anniversaries are special, and this particular occasion is one for the record books! Lest we’ve forgotten: it was just over a year ago this month that Jericho fans, sometimes better known as Jericho Rangers, made history by conducting the most innovative grassroots Internet campaign in the annals of television to bring back from the dead the serial post-apocalyptic drama Jericho. Jericho Rangers employed all avenues of attack in an all-out battle for their show — full-page ads placed in “Variety” and “The Hollywood Reporter;” personal calls to television executives; letters and e-mails sent to CBS execs in both New York and Los Angeles; and, the now-infamous shelling of over 20 tons of peanuts to CBS HQ. In addition, Jericho Rangers supported a number of humanitarian efforts, such as Ride for Your Life, Rebuild Greensburg, KS, the successful DVDs for the Troops campaign, and supplying care packages to deployed troops through Staten Island Homefront Project (SIPH).
A year later now, and following a second cancellation of Jericho, Rangers have found once again that we’re in another fight for the survival of our beloved show. With the benefit of tried-and-true experience under our belts, we are waging battle again with more strategic print ad placements, an ongoing postcard- and letter-writing campaign, and a sky-high billboard in a strategic location near CBS studios reminding entertainment powers-that-be that Jericho is looking for a home.
But one ingredient had been missing, and it was a tactic that had to be so precedent-setting, so attention-grabbing as to move a new Save Jericho Again campaign onto a new, high-profile plane. Thus, the idea for a television ad was born! At the repeated urging of avid Jericho fan and fellow Ranger Barney/RedSox, Ranger leader Chris/GenPatton engaged the help of Julie/Welcome2CHO and Steve/Scoobud to explore the viability of a TV ad campaign that would highlight not only the continued fight to save Jericho but also put emphasis on fundraising for the DVDs for the Troops campaign.
Worried that it might be too much to ask from the fans but still intrigued at the possibilities, Barney arranged a conference call with a Time-Warner representative in LA to discuss an initial $22,000 media schedule that was crafted to hit the targeted demographics, most highly rated cable shows, and the areas where many entertainment executives reside. Though Chris and Steve were unable to join the call due to work and civic commitments, Barney and Julie, who was specifically pulled in because of her public and media relations experience, conducted the conference call and worked with Time-Warner to reduce the media schedule down to a more manageable $13,000 without sacrificing the impact of the original proposal. Immediately thereafter, they informed the rest of the team that this was a truly achievable goal that would pay big dividends in providing the needed visibility in the Hollywood area.
Jericho fans are fortunate to have fellow Rangers who posssess the vision and talent to carry out such a grand scheme and to develop a quality piece that would be both powerful and professional-looking. Two of these very talented and gifted people — RubberPoultry/Jason and Bombwatcher – were contacted and asked if either would have the time to even consider accepting such an undertaking. Though Bombwatcher had to reluctantly decline, she sknows she still has our gratitude and appreciation for her support of the project. RubberPoultry, on the other hand, was able to lend his time and talents and graciously accepted the challenge. With a little more structure added to the plan and legal issues satisfactorily ironed out, Julie, with the help of a wonderful friend, set up a PayPal account to receive donations, Chris laid out the plan in detail on the CBS board, and Steve placed a link on his Jericho Rangers for the Troops site. Game on! We were off and running on this exciting fundraising journey.
As donations started to pour in and as RubberPoultry began working on a proposed script for the ad, RP realized that a 30-second spot simply wouldn’t allow time for a focus on both the DVDs and the Save Jericho campaign. After a very thoughtful and heartfelt discussion, the team agreed to reluctantly remove the DVD focus and instead highlight the “Save” aspect in order to give RP the needed flexibility to produce a more impactful TV ad.
Also, under a very tight timeframe, the ad team also realized that the $13K goal might not be achievable in such a short time period, so Barney worked again with Time-Warner to renegotiate another package that still accomplished our goals. The end result, through Barney’s finesse and Time-Warner’s great flexibility and patience, was a great ad package that came in at a little over $6K.
Two days earlier than the anticipated June 3rd deadline, the fundraising goal was achieved through the extraordinary efforts of many generous fans and other various supporters! Dedicated Rangers such as Rhysefw, Gigi, Mpbnice, Delana201 and Dawn_USA reached out to new and veteran posters to inform them of this campaign. The unbelievable generosity and inspiration of Nobodysbaby, who laid down a last-minute challenge to provide a partial match to all remaining donations, gave this campaign the boost it needed to reach the goal. The unflagging support of many friends who silently donated and kept our spirits up as various obstacles were thrown our way pushed us when we most needed it. And all donors, many who gave multiple times, from the U.S. and abroad — with donations ranging from $1 to $500 — helped us raise over $6,300 in less than a month. A special thank-you also goes out to the many Rangers from the Jericho Wiki and the Save Jericho Coalition sites for the very important role they played in crossing the finish line. We know there’s no adequate way to thank all of you, but, nevertheless, we’re giving it our best shot.
During this journey, RubberPoultry also reached the conclusion that this special ad to represent all the Jericho fandom also deserved a special home. And he swiftly moved to create that special home in the form of a Web site called Save Jericho Again, where all fans, in the united spirit of solidarity and tenacity to resurrect Jericho, could come together in a place to showcase their TV ad and their hours of hard work. Since you’re here now and reading this, you know that www.savejerichoagain.com is an oasis of neutrality with no other allegiance than to the extraordinary TV show and its cast and crew that we love so much. We are incredibly thankful for his vision in doing so, and we applaud him for this extra effort. As if his creation of the ad wasn’t enough, RubberPoultry more than doubled his time and efforts to bring us to this point. Without his involvement and his vision, we wouldn’t be here today.
To Brad Beyer — what can we say? You are absolutely the best of the best, and your voice-over took us to heights we never even imagined. Though the exact details of actions of other behind-the-scenes folks in this endeavor cannot be revealed at their requests, suffice it to say that you have our undying gratitude for doing something on our behalf that we’ll never, ever forget. Thank you, Brad and our undercover operatives, for loving Jericho as much as we do.
As if it needs to be said, but we will — this campaign is about Jericho and the people who love it. That includes fans, cast, crew, writers, producers, etc. This is a campaign about all of us…..for all of us. We hope you’ve enjoyed our journey thus far, and we hope you love the ad and how it represents the best of our Jericho family.
GenPatton43
Scoobud3
RedSox19861
Welcome2CHO