Big Score for Soap Fans!!! After being flooded wth letters and emails from soap fans, Hoover has decided to pull their ads from ABC. Here's what Hoover's VP of Marketing wrote on their facebook page:
To all the loyal ABC soap fans,
I want you to know from me personally that we hear you loud and clear. My wife and mother are both passionate viewers of All My Children and One Life to Live, as are many of my colleagues here at Hoover. We were and are as disappointed with this news as you are.
In fact, we will discontinue our advertising with ABC this Friday, 4/22. We're making every attempt to pull our spots from these programs sooner.
Because we feel that’s not enough, we also want to help get your voice heard with ABC. So, we’ve set up a special email address, SaveTheSoaps@Hoover.com, to help pull together the mass emotional outpouring of support for our beloved ABC soaps and get it to our contacts at ABC. Please, send your emails to us at SaveTheSoaps@Hoover.com, and we’ll get every, single last one of them to ABC.
We’re 150% committed to doing what matters most to you – so if there’s anything else we can do to help or you have any ideas, please email this address, and we will respond to you personally.
Thank you for standing up for what matters to you! We need more of that in this world.
Brian Kirkendall
Vice President of Marketing
Hoover.
Bravo Hoover!!! Since making the announcement Hoover's followers on twitter and facebook have skyrocketed! Please take a few minutes to email them, tweet them and leave a message on facebook thanking them for their support! Unlike ABC, Hoover listens to and appreciates soap fans!
-Melanie/SoapOperaBabble/daisyclover
Showing posts with label Survival of Soap Opera. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Survival of Soap Opera. Show all posts
13 April 2011
Are Twitter and Facebook Replacing Traditional Soap Website Campaigns?
We at Denial Island Blog are curious. Where are the big online Save our Soap campaigns?
With all the rumours flying around about the potential cancellation of either One Life to Live or All My Children (or both), it's interesting that even though many bemoan the fate of soaps, not many in the soap media website world seem to be doing anything aggressively proactive about it. Who's marshaling the troops? Soap fans are the most passionate and supportive people out there!
After much research, we're left scratching our heads. Are none of our favourite soap media websites, who only exist because soaps do, taking up the challenge to the soap PTB with a Save Our Soaps campaign? They're encouraging fans to write in, but why haven't they been the ones organizing a structured, balls to the walls offensive? They have a huge number of soap fan readers/listeners that they can mobilize, and the contacts/sources to design really effective operations. They should be Campaign Central, spearheading the fight!
Instead, it appears the mantle is being taken up by more entrepreneurial soap fans, who set up numerous twitter and facebook accounts everyday in order to tap into and garner support for their fave soap, fired actor or most hated head writer. On that note, here are a few of our faves:
Twitter:
@BringBackCane - a twitter account set up when the US soap Young & the Restless favorite Daniel Goddard (Cane Ashby, Y&R) was rumored fired in January 2011. Outcome? SUCCESSFUL
@FireFrons - pretty self explanatory, but for our non-US soapers, Brian Frons is the President of ABC Daytime and is notorious for meddling in the ABC soaps and not in a good way. Outcome? IN PROGRESS
@Shit_Ken_C_Says - Days of our Lives Executive Producer Ken Corday routinely gives interviews about DOOL spoilers (usually around sweeps time) seemingly without giving any thought to what he's saying and who it might offend; which it usually does. Outcome? JUST PLAIN FUNNY
@Save_ATWT - created in response to the now cancelled US soap As The World Turns. Outcome? :(
@FireDenaHigley - after killing two soaps to the point of difficult (yet not impossible) return, and now on her third, this twitter account about the current Head Writer of DOOL speaks for itself. Outcome? IN PROGRESS (but looking bleak)
@savejackandjenn - created to bring actor Matthew Ashford (ex-Jack, DOOL) back to DOOL after Melissa Reeves (Jennifer, DOOL) signed to return mid-2010. Outcome? IN PROGRESS
Facebook: click the links to learn more about each group.
Maybe what it really is, is websites are being usurped - it takes seconds to write a tweet or update a facebook status or start a facebook page to rally troops. Heck, it was probably faster to write this blog post (and that's taken 3 days). Maybe the soap sites think someone else will do it? Or maybe, soap websites just can't be bothered? Or maybe they don't think the status of soaps situation is serious enough to warrant such a big campaign? Denial Island Bloggers don't believe that for a second - anyone who takes any interest in the soapworld knows that the future of daytime soaps is not looking rosy.
So we want to know: do you guys think soap media sites/pods should be doing more to spearhead the Save Our Soaps campaigns? Or do you think keeping us up-to-date on the gossip and encouraging us to mobilize is more than enough?
P.S. If anyone wants to let us know about or advertise any Soap Saving campaigns, please leave the info in the comment box!
With all the rumours flying around about the potential cancellation of either One Life to Live or All My Children (or both), it's interesting that even though many bemoan the fate of soaps, not many in the soap media website world seem to be doing anything aggressively proactive about it. Who's marshaling the troops? Soap fans are the most passionate and supportive people out there!
After much research, we're left scratching our heads. Are none of our favourite soap media websites, who only exist because soaps do, taking up the challenge to the soap PTB with a Save Our Soaps campaign? They're encouraging fans to write in, but why haven't they been the ones organizing a structured, balls to the walls offensive? They have a huge number of soap fan readers/listeners that they can mobilize, and the contacts/sources to design really effective operations. They should be Campaign Central, spearheading the fight!
Instead, it appears the mantle is being taken up by more entrepreneurial soap fans, who set up numerous twitter and facebook accounts everyday in order to tap into and garner support for their fave soap, fired actor or most hated head writer. On that note, here are a few of our faves:
Twitter:
@BringBackCane - a twitter account set up when the US soap Young & the Restless favorite Daniel Goddard (Cane Ashby, Y&R) was rumored fired in January 2011. Outcome? SUCCESSFUL
@FireFrons - pretty self explanatory, but for our non-US soapers, Brian Frons is the President of ABC Daytime and is notorious for meddling in the ABC soaps and not in a good way. Outcome? IN PROGRESS
@Shit_Ken_C_Says - Days of our Lives Executive Producer Ken Corday routinely gives interviews about DOOL spoilers (usually around sweeps time) seemingly without giving any thought to what he's saying and who it might offend; which it usually does. Outcome? JUST PLAIN FUNNY
@Save_ATWT - created in response to the now cancelled US soap As The World Turns. Outcome? :(
@FireDenaHigley - after killing two soaps to the point of difficult (yet not impossible) return, and now on her third, this twitter account about the current Head Writer of DOOL speaks for itself. Outcome? IN PROGRESS (but looking bleak)
@savejackandjenn - created to bring actor Matthew Ashford (ex-Jack, DOOL) back to DOOL after Melissa Reeves (Jennifer, DOOL) signed to return mid-2010. Outcome? IN PROGRESS
Facebook: click the links to learn more about each group.
- Save ABC's Soaps
- Soap Savers Inc
- Save One Life to Live and All My Children
- Save One Life to Live from being cancelled
Maybe what it really is, is websites are being usurped - it takes seconds to write a tweet or update a facebook status or start a facebook page to rally troops. Heck, it was probably faster to write this blog post (and that's taken 3 days). Maybe the soap sites think someone else will do it? Or maybe, soap websites just can't be bothered? Or maybe they don't think the status of soaps situation is serious enough to warrant such a big campaign? Denial Island Bloggers don't believe that for a second - anyone who takes any interest in the soapworld knows that the future of daytime soaps is not looking rosy.
So we want to know: do you guys think soap media sites/pods should be doing more to spearhead the Save Our Soaps campaigns? Or do you think keeping us up-to-date on the gossip and encouraging us to mobilize is more than enough?
NB: To the soap websites, we're not trying to have a go at you, honest. Ok, maybe just a little bit :P but really, it's just to spur you into action!
P.S. If anyone wants to let us know about or advertise any Soap Saving campaigns, please leave the info in the comment box!
12 April 2011
Tom Casiello Leaving Young and the Restless!
Casiello has been with Y&R since 2009 and held writing positions at ATWT, OLTL, and Days, as well as interning at Another World. He was also a contributor to Sam Ford's "The Survival of Soap Opera" (review coming soon!). During the 2008 writers strike, Casiello became a fan favorite in the soap community after starting a blog discussing soaps and his experiences as a writer and a fan.
That's when I discovered Casiello - his blog and subsequent interviews on various podcasts allowed fans to get a glimpse at what goes on behind the scenes at their favorite shows. No juicy gossip or snarky b*tching, just an explanation of things from the perspective of a soap industry insider. He humanized TPTB (shaming me into not calling them "TIIC" anymore), making it clear that everyone wants what's best for our shows. During one interview, Casiello explained a story decision that was made for Days' Hope (I've forgotten the exact story/plot), and while I still didn't like it, I finally understand why it was done and that TPTB weren't "dumb" for doing it but in fact had a good reason for going in that direction. While the details of that interview are vague, one thing has stayed with me - that I should try to see things from TPTB's perspective instead of demonizing them.
Through his blog posts, interviews, tweets and facebook comments Casiello has proven himself to be not only a talented writer, but a thoughtful, kind and fair minded human being. Casiello has a love of the genre and a genuine affection and respect for the fans, and that was appreciated by all of us. While I'll be sad to see him leave the daytime soap world, I wish him much success in his future endeavors!
**Btw, one particularly awesome blog post of Casiello's was Soap-Opera Writing 101. If you want to write for soaps or are just curious about the process, I highly recommend you check this out. It's a step by step example of how it's done (using an aired Sami/EJ scene as a guide). Read it here.
Update: Since this was posted, it has been announced that Tom Casiello has been hired as part of the WWE writing team. Good Luck Tom!
-Melanie/SoapOperaBabble/daisyclover
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