Using Reagan to Our Advantage

Here's something you can do. CBS is going to air a miniseries about Ronald Reagan that has apparently upset the Right (even before airing). In fact, the Right is starting a campaign to Boycott the show:

STEP ONE - Join the battle by signing up for our email alert that will tell you which companies advertise on the CBS series. Shortly after the anti-Reagan smear on conservatives airs, we will send you an email alert with the names and contact information for the companies that funded this Left-wing attack. The email will tell you everything you need to know to send emails, faxes, or place phone calls to these companies to inform them you will not purchase their products for 30 days to protest their complicity in smearing patriotic Americans. STEP TWO - Email your friends, and urge them to join our campaign. This is entirely a grass-roots effort; there is no fancy budget behind it. The power of email and the Web is all we have, and all we need, to humble Hateful Hollywood. Send an email to every sensible, fair-minded American you know asking them to visit this website to support this campaign. STEP THREE - Watch one of the other TV networks during the Reagan Smear mini-series. This series is scheduled to air during the all-important time in television known as Sweeps Weeks. The money CBS makes on all its advertising, for all its shows, for the next six months will largely be determined by how many viewers they get during Sweeps Weeks. By watching a CBS competitor during their Smear Series, you multiply your power, as the other networks will look more attractive to advertisers than CBS. Of course, remember to remind your friends to do the same. Also, if you happen to know anyone who keeps track of the TV shows they watch for Neilsen ratings or other TV rating systems, ASK THEM NOT TO WATCH THE ANTI-REAGAN SMEAR. These "special" TV viewers control tens of millions of dollars based on what shows they watch. If you convince a single Neilsen Family to watch something other than the Reagan Smear, you literally have cost CBS millions of dollars. Not bad for placing a phone call to a friend.

There was a step four, but it involved the usual Right-wing school-bully tactic of revenge. So here's what we can do:

Step One: Go ahead and join their e-mail alert in order to receive the info they're going to distribute about the show's sponsors.

Step Two: Do e-mail your friends too, but ask them to watch the show.

Step Three: Here's where you change course: Watch the show! And 'if you happen to know anyone who keeps track of the TV shows they watch for Neilsen ratings or other TV rating systems", be sure they watch too!

If you're really energetic, e-mail the sponsors (from the list obtained in step one), thanking them for supporting the series.

Let's do it for the Gipper!

UPDATE:

CBS Is Said to Cancel Reagan Mini-Series By JIM RUTENBERG and BILL CARTER - Published: November 4, 2003 Under pressure from Republican and conservative groups, CBS is expected to announce as early as today that it is canceling its plans to run a two-part mini-series in November deconstructing the Ronald Reagan presidency, two people close to the decision said last night. They said the film would most likely instead be handed over to CBS's pay-cable sibling, Showtime. The announcement would perhaps the first time a major broadcast network has ever removed a completed project from its schedule because of political pressure and under the threat of an advertising boycott.

Those gosh-darned Republicans. Now they insist on taking away our fun, too!