The additional merchandising the series has only serves to strengthen the support of the series by fans, and that benefits all around. And thank goodness WB jumped in and took the initiative for some promo assistance considering CW was way too busy focusing on Gossip Girl and 90210.

In regards to the spoilers, I am of mixed feelings on this. The casual or new viewer is not going to be entrenched in fandom to get immediate access to the spoilers, but they will get the necessary intrigue-building blurbs from the mainstream sources, like TV Guide for example. People within fandom who WANT to get a glimpse into what’s coming up (like myself) are not going to be any less intrigued or any less likely to tune in; in fact, my anticipation and excitement grows with the more I learn. And same goes for those within fandom that avoid spoilers. This fandom is so vast and connected, that anything associated to Supernatural showing up anywhere in the world is almost immediately shared. The bad side to this is the potential revolutions that arise from those bits of spoilers taken out of context (i.e. JoGate when Jo was named as a love interest; the RuBela fiasco when they were dubbed ‘hot, kick-A hunter girlfriends’). Yes, fandom went into revolution mode at those times, but looking back at the whole picture, it certainly was NOT without good reason. Of course, one can justifiably argue that it’s not our place to question these things, but instead should sit back and allow the creators to tell their story the way they want. Not a problem with something like Grey’s or Heroes and their 15 million viewers… who cares if a million walk away, there’s plenty more there. Supernatural does not have that luxury of introducing elements that the majority find unpleasant and start walking away.

As far as the promo vids and pics that are provided by CW/WB, I would hope that those are being shared through legitimate outlets. In a way, CW indirectly causes this problem by not including overseas access to sections of their site. The overseas fans (including Canada where the show is filmed) should have the same privilege of seeing those vids as the US fans. Even though they don’t contribute to the ratings numbers, they DO contribute to the purchasing of DVDs, comics, mags, etc.

Anyways, I am rambling again. Thanks to everyone for their support and kind words and to SciFi Universe for allowing me to share my thoughts. )))

i live in new york with my grandma.
i love supernatural i watch it evey thursday
i want to meet you someday.

jensen your a good actor

jared your a good actor

your fan maria

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for including our little site in your wonderful tribute to the Supernatural fandom.

Sincerely,
Lindsay
http://www.SupportSupernatural.com

Again, Awesome article! And quick note, the link to http://www.SupportSupernatural.com is missing an ‘r’ in super so it’s not going to the site. Thought you’d like to know.

It’s no secret that any charity can easily go awry – and certainly anything run on the Internet increases that potential. That is why the FR board has taken every step we can think of to run our campaigns as transparently as possible. We even ave allowed fans to view the reporting on our Paypal account directly.

In addition, we’ve sometimes spent a great deal of our own funds covering expenses to help ensure that fan donations go *exactly* where they were intended.

I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been there to personally hand off the donations to our charities on two occasions. It was an immense feeling of success, and in many ways, it has been humbling.

While these campaigns may not have huge impacts on the ratings at large, they have impact, nonetheless. Every time I go out with my Fandom Rocks shirt on, every time I hand over a check, every time I run to the printer to get cards or flyers – someone (or three or four!) asks me about Fandom Rocks.

I tell them about it and I tell them about the show. And 100% of the time, those people tell me if a show can inspire that many people to work for charity in its name, then it’s something they have to check out.

If every fan gets just new ONE person to watch, then it’s a good day. And if we can do that while also doing something good for our fellow man, then it’s a GREAT day!

Supernatural is, indeed, a heretofore “hidden gem” that is finally getting the media recognition it has long deserved. Eric Kripke has gathered together a group of such amazing talents, from cast to crew, from behind the camera to the writer’s room, and they have created a show that keeps us on the edge of our seats week after week. And, a show that not only entertains, but makes you think, as well!

I applaud the Supernatural fans for their charitable work. Through our mutual love and support of Supernatural, we have worked together to say “Thank You” to Kripke and Company in a way that has helped some very worthy causes.

I work with Fandom Rocks and, as you mentioned, our last campaign raised $9000.00 for Writegirl and Invisible Children, thanks in part to an online auction for some great items donated by a lot of the awesome folks at Supernatural.

We have just begun our latest campaign, which will benefit HSUS (the arm of the Humane Society which works to investigate and expose the cruelty and mistreatment of animals in the US and abroad, and Children of Tomorrow, which provides assistance to children and families who have become victims of war, persecution, and violence. These organizations were chosen by SPN fans through an online poll on the FR website.

We will be holding online fundraisers and promotions, as well as being at the Supernatural conventions, so we hope to connect with many, many Supernatural fans.

Thanks again, for your wonderful words about the best show on television!

Just to clarify that should have read “which means also knowing when to withhold some vital information.

It is a response that offers another side to the issue.

Fans have put a lot of effort into and effort to promote the series there is no doubt about that.

The thing is fandom run charity drives, as wonderful as they are and even with all the good they have done to raise money, rarely have had any impact on the ratings increases of television shows. I think it probably likely that the ones for Supernatural may have had very little impact on it’s ratings as well. The reason I think this is because none of these charity drives have obtained the kind of mainstream media attention necessary to bring them to the notice of the casual viewer and non internet related viewer and in turn draw their attention to the series.

Also for the same reason this site had to add a disclaimer to the charity drives so must the studios, networks and such for legal reason put a certain amount of necessary distance between themselves and the promotion of the charity drives thay have not sanctioned.

Also there is always the potential for fandom division about charity events and fandom politics/arguments and that keep studios, networks and series production staff from using them as promotion tools for the series. It’s often this uglier side of the issue that has more of a potential to keep new viewers away.

Also on the other side of the coin, both the network and the studio has made decisions that have had an effect on the increased interest in Supernatural. As pointed out in the article, the author notes that Supernatural doesn’t have the coveted demographic that the CW might seek out for the rest of their programing, but Supernatural is gaining ground in viewer interest in a place where the other shows are not, in some cases even involved in yet.

Supernatural has merchandising that is starting to increase and to come into the market. Comic books, novels, trading cards. All of these things contribute to increasing viewer awareness of the series.

Also, for the fourth season, the CW and Warner Bros has really done a kick ass job of putting out some amazing and innovative promotional means for the series. Teaser clips, more interviews, and that wonderful little Jensen Ackles surprise at the end of Yellow Fever.

And there is always the one thing no fan really wants to talk about and even gets defensive about. The release of spoiler information they get ‘access’ to including casting sides, photos and other means of information. From the beginning of Season Four Kripke and the studio/network were trying to build some mystery and suspense about how Dean was going to get out hell. They wanted to create enough intrigue that new viewers might be intrigued enough to tune it. It was an uphill battle for them because of all the spoilers and information fans were ‘revealing’ on the net. but Kripke and company managed to hold onto some vital secrets and keep them away from the casual viewer/new viewer long enough to draw them in by making them intrigued about what was going on and that in turn increase the ratings for the show, possibly more than fan campaigns or charity drives.

The thing is for every supportive post card a fan might send to an advertiser, there is the possibility that it gets counteracted by all the ‘reveal’s the fans flood the internet with that take the mystery out of an episode.

Maybe what Kripke and company need from the fans in form of help to promote the show is that ‘word of mouth’ he asked for. Which means also knowing when to without some vitial information and let the viewers be intrigued enough by the mystery and the surprising plot twists to want to tune in. Word of mouth doesn’t translate to ‘give everything away’. Maybe the best help is to let Kripke and company do their job and tell their stories and then go out and tell friends ‘hey this is a great show and I like it because’.