Fox to Buffy fans – We Don't Need You

Fox to Buffy fans – We Don't Need You

Oct 17

No, no, they didn’t, but they may as well have said it. It’s October in Vancouver, and that means I’ve been walking around seeing posters for the Buffy Musical Sing-A-Long being held locally. This has been going on for at least a couple years now and it’s a rousing good time (particularly if you’re a guy, because it’s a ten-to-one ratio of male/female. But I digress.) What I didn’t realize is that the posters are useless.

You see, Fox has pulled the plug on the screening of the Buffy TV episode, Once More With Feeling, in several cities. I can’t seem to find a reason why, other than corporate lawyers are always looking for shit like this so they can keep busy.

The reasoning is simple to them – a theatrical showing, organized by fans, is a couple hundred people in a room watching one copy of a DVD, which isn’t as good as a couple hundred fans watching individual copies at home. The enforcement of copyright is easy to reason out from a strict monetary sense. It’s also kind of ridiculous from a broad, franchise establishment and promotion sense.

Reality – though exact numbers are difficult to gauge, since nobody has taking a poll or anything – is that most everyone in that audience already has the DVD. And the other DVDs. And the books, comics, figures, etc. Fox has made money off of them. These gatherings have an important role then – it helps reinforce the love existing fans have for the show or better yet increases that love in some fans. If someone brings along non-fans, you could have new fans. All in all. More. Money.

But lawyers don’t think that way – they are not allowed to think laterally about strategies for building a fanbase. And the marketers and execs who are allowed, never think to give the lawyers standing orders to talk to them before dropping the hammer.

Actually, it might not matter – business culture is a strange beast. “It’s not personal, it’s business” actually means something to them – to them, standard operating procedure is to crush the other side and if it gets worked out, you can do business again. They forget sometimes that a consumer isn’t thinking the same way – to them it is personal. It would be a shame if there actually is an executive strata at Fox that seriously thinks they can shut down the sing-a-longs, then figure out a policy, and then everyone can be friends again. No, no, Fox. They’ll be mad at you. They ARE mad at you, and really you should be thankful you have Joss Whedon talking directly to them. They are not beholden to you, but they are beholden to him and if this gets sorted, it will be Whedon that smoothed their ruffled feathers.

But wait – I have and idea.

Just start an off-broadway musical. Or something small in LA. Get some ernest young actors to act and sing their way through the stage production of the episode. Make it completely audience participation, allowing them to sing-along, or for a special few, to get to come up on stage and be the They-Got-The-Mustard-Out guy. Have Tony Head put in an appearance at the premiere – make him be They-Got-The-Mustard-Out guy! The press and fans will love it.

Sell swag in the lobby. Sell the DVDs, the CD… hell, make a new CD with the stage cast and sell it. Make it a point of having the actors hang out with the fans so they can talk to them, get their picture taken, get an autograph.

And then… tour the fucker.

Problem solved.