GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Recommend Firefly

POSTED BY: RKLENSETH
UPDATED: Wednesday, March 24, 2004 19:34
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 12048
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Friday, March 5, 2004 3:38 PM

RKLENSETH


I know this has been said before but we should all really get together and begin recommending Firefly under other products on Amazon.com. I just recommended Firefly under all the product listed under Firefly as what customers bought in addition to Firefly. The only one that had Firefly as the top recommendation was Babylon 5. But we aren't all that far off from the others so if a few more people got together and recommended Firefly under the other products which include Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, and Pirate of the Caribean we could have Firefly as the top recommendations for those.

The ASIN number for Firefly is B0000AQS0F.

All you do is go where it they have what products are recommended and click the link to recommend and put that little number into the in addition recommendation.

Having Firefly as the top recommended DVD under blockbuster hits would greatly help Firefly since they get a lot more traffic than things like Angel, Babylon 5.

Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.

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Friday, March 5, 2004 3:42 PM

SHINY


In addition to looking at what DVDs are recommended to those looking at the Firefly page, we should also focus some attention on simply the most popular DVDs out there. Perhaps someone could make a list of the top 10 or so, and we could start a concerted effort to make Firefly one of the recommendations from those as well?

RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.

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Friday, March 5, 2004 4:44 PM

CUDA


Quote:

Originally posted by Shiny:
Perhaps someone could make a list of the top 10 or so.



How about Amazon's list of top sellers?

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Friday, March 5, 2004 6:31 PM

RKLENSETH


Yes. Can you post the link and we can all begin recommending? Thanks.

Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.

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Friday, March 5, 2004 7:39 PM

CUDA


Quote:

Originally posted by rklenseth:
Yes. Can you post the link and we can all begin recommending? Thanks.




Ok, go to Amazon, and click on the 'Top Sellers' tab, then click on 'DVD'.

or

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/new-for-you/top-sellers/-/dvd/all
/ref=pd_ts_d_nav/104-4525180-7291921

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Saturday, March 6, 2004 7:28 AM

SHINY


Done, thanks! Everyone, please go to this link and recommend Firefly for all of the top sellers that are already available (you can't recommend for items that are not yet shipping). Some of these only have a few people recommending, so we can get Firefly as the top recommendation for all of the best sellers pretty quickly! Let's keep this thread on the top for a while...BUMP! I'll post to the OB too...

RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.

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Saturday, March 6, 2004 11:39 AM

RKLENSETH


Bump

Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.

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Saturday, March 6, 2004 1:13 PM

ECMORGAN69


I added my recommendation for "Firefly" to a whole bunch of SF shows, like "Farscape" and "Stargate SG-1". Let's keep it up!

They can have my "Firefly" DVDs when they pry them from my cold, dead fingers....

Oh yeah, you, FOX TV!!

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Saturday, March 6, 2004 3:57 PM

SHINY


*BUMP* GO BROWNCOATS!

RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.

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Saturday, March 6, 2004 4:44 PM

CHRISTHECYNIC


I think that people should go through the entire top 100 and recommend everywhere it seems fit.

Also Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl at number five and no one recommended Firefly?

Jack Sparrow: Wherever we want to go, we go. That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and hull and a deck and sails. That's what a ship needs. But what a ship is... what the Black Pearl really is... is freedom.

Mal: Try and see past what she is, to what she can be.
Zoe: What's that, sir?
Mal: Freedom, that's what.
Zoe: I meant, what's that?
Mal: Oh. Yeah, just step around that. I think something must have been living in here.


I know I’m crazy, but I cant be the only one that liked both or felt a connection, it only takes one of those things to honestly recommend something.


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Saturday, March 6, 2004 4:46 PM

CUDA


I think it's pretty hilarious, and awesome, to see Firefly recommendations under 'Friends'.

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Saturday, March 6, 2004 5:32 PM

ARCBEATLE


Remember to recommend it under the great sci fir movies like the Matrix and Star Wars too ppl!

People only beleive somehting if it's in a movie

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Saturday, March 6, 2004 5:38 PM

ARCBEATLE


-and star trek, you know, cant forget that I guess.


People only beleive somehting if it's in a movie

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Saturday, March 6, 2004 6:24 PM

ECMORGAN69


I threw in a few more while I was up and drinking... er, I mean web-surfing

They can have my "Firefly" DVDs when they pry them from my cold, dead fingers....

Oh yeah, you, FOX TV!!

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Saturday, March 6, 2004 7:34 PM

RKLENSETH


Quote:

Originally posted by christhecynic:
I think that people should go through the entire top 100 and recommend everywhere it seems fit.

Also Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl at number five and no one recommended Firefly?

Jack Sparrow: Wherever we want to go, we go. That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and hull and a deck and sails. That's what a ship needs. But what a ship is... what the Black Pearl really is... is freedom.

Mal: Try and see past what she is, to what she can be.
Zoe: What's that, sir?
Mal: Freedom, that's what.
Zoe: I meant, what's that?
Mal: Oh. Yeah, just step around that. I think something must have been living in here.


I know I’m crazy, but I cant be the only one that liked both or felt a connection, it only takes one of those things to honestly recommend something.




Did that already but it seems that Amazon.com believes that Firefly isn't something to be recommended under Pirates. They denied my recommendation.

Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.

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Sunday, March 7, 2004 6:49 AM

CUDA


Any other marketing ideas?

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Sunday, March 7, 2004 7:46 AM

DJKILLJ0Y


Just ran through the top 100. I'll be sure to keep the ASIN handy as I continue to browse where appropriate.

"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." - Thelonious Monk

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Sunday, March 7, 2004 10:27 AM

SHINY


Quote:

Originally posted by rklenseth:
Quote:

Originally posted by christhecynic:
I think that people should go through the entire top 100 and recommend everywhere it seems fit.

Also Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl at number five and no one recommended Firefly?




Did that already but it seems that Amazon.com believes that Firefly isn't something to be recommended under Pirates. They denied my recommendation.



I didn't realize they actually had someone checking all of these...well, I suppose we should continue trying all the top 100 DVDs anyway, some of them might slip through, and we only need a few to become the top recommendation for most of these. Also, I agree we should hit all the popular SF DVDs (Star Wars, Star Trek, Star Gate, Babylon 5, Matrix, etc.)

RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.

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Sunday, March 7, 2004 12:32 PM

SCIFIFAN


I just added Firefly to about 25 SciFi related movies. We'll see how many get accepted.

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Sunday, March 7, 2004 7:00 PM

FIRELILY


Quote:

Originally posted by rklenseth:
[BDid that already but it seems that Amazon.com believes that Firefly isn't something to be recommended under Pirates. They denied my recommendation.


Yeah, same thing happened when my friend and I tried to recommend under "The Critic: the complete series", never showed up.
How then, does "The Zone" and "Assholes guide to chicks" get recommended instead of Firefly? Doesn't make sense to me.

_________________________________________________________
"Now they see sky, and they remember what they are."

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Sunday, March 7, 2004 8:06 PM

CUDA


Quote:



Yeah, same thing happened when my friend and I tried to recommend under "The Critic: the complete series", never showed up.
How then, does "The Zone" and "Assholes guide to chicks" get recommended instead of Firefly? Doesn't make sense to me.



Well, in the same recommendations section you can also indicate that a particular recommendation is inappropriate, which I did for "Assholes Guide", but with the same non-result.

For what it's worth, I emailed Amazon asking about the workings of their 'recommendations' feature, and mentioned how it seems to lack any real results. Something seems a bit funky.

I find it hard to believe that our recommendations are getting censored, Firefly recommendations are showing up under other titles, but not in the numbers I would expect.

Also if Amazon were to deem any Firefly recommendations inappropriate, I would think it would be those under 'Friends', but they're still there!

If others wanted to harass Amazon about this issue, it wouldn't hurt!

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Monday, March 8, 2004 4:25 AM

SHINY


Well, I think we're more likely to succeed by just keeping at it; I imagine if something like that "A$$hole's guide" gets through their recommendation screening guide, then certainly Firefly should be able to if enough of us recommend it...

RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.

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Monday, March 8, 2004 8:55 AM

SHINY


We only have 8 more recommendations for Firefly to be the top most recommended for The Lord of The Rings! Add your recommendation now!:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00009TB5G/ref=pd_ts_d_1
1/102-6665341-7589714?v=glance&s=dvd&n=404276




RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.

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Monday, March 8, 2004 2:35 PM

CUDA


Ok, here's the email I got from Amazon after my inquiry:

Quote:


The "Our Customers' Advice" feature was implemented as a way for
customers to make recommendations on items that they believe would be
of interest to other customers. Unfortunately, when the feature was
originally introduced to our web site, we saw numerous
recommendations being made by commercial interests, rather than
customers.

As that was the case, we have instituted some measures to ensure that
commercial interests are mitigated. The program does have set
parameters and, when we find that one item is receiving more
recommendations than is statistically appropriate, we take the
necessary action. Unfortunately, there will be occasional instances
where valid customer recommendations will be removed because they
fall outside of these parameters, as may have happened in your case.
Our records show that you have reccommended "Firefly - The Complete
Series" on at least 16 different items.

What I can suggest is not limiting your advice to one particular
item, and making fewer recommendations for any given item. This will
help deter the removal of your recommendations. I apologize if this
causes you any inconvenience.



Well their count is a bit low, I've done well over 16 recommendations.

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Monday, March 8, 2004 2:43 PM

SHINY


Thanks Cuda, that's very informative. That means it's probably not in our best interests to recommend Firefly under as many other popular movies as we can, but to rather pick only a few top movies that we each try to recommend under. If we each only make a few recommendations, hopefully they will not be filtered out.

RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.

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Monday, March 8, 2004 3:19 PM

NOOCYTE


OOPS!

I reckon that means I'll have a refusal email in my future; I just spent the last half-hour cut-and-pasting the Firefly product number in various places (dozens, I'm sure)!

BTW, in addition to all the other fine ideas here, I had a thought (and made it a reality) to plow through the Westerns (or "Oaters," for those in the know), since the affinities are so strong.

Keep flyin' (that'd be my recommendation)



Department of Redundancy Department

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Monday, March 8, 2004 8:00 PM

CUDA


Don't let the Amazon censors get you down! Those of you who haven't done any Firefly recommendations can still help!!!

And those that have recommended allready, keep up the good work!

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Monday, March 8, 2004 8:27 PM

NOOCYTE


Actually, I think that Amazon's policy should give us pause. It is a sound policy when you think of it, as it keeps studio spammers from boosting their products with what essentially amounts to free advertising.

Which, if we're to be wholly honest with ourseves, is what we are doing (albeit with the best of intentions and for the best of causes!).

Now I for one have no problem with deploying some of the free energy which fux so spectacularly failed to channel (no pun intended) in the service of promoting Firefly. I quite like the recommendation campaign, and intend to continue.

But we do apparently need to stay under the radar with this one (as any good Browncoat is well-advised to do!). The last thing we need is to slip over the line from "passionate, devoted, and energetic" to "rabidly evangelical" fans in the public perception, as the latter could very easily boomerang against Firefly. More pragmatically, I would hate to see Amazon tighten up the reins against recs for Firefly, and so lose us this venue.

Best to keep a slow, steady trickle of recommendations, well-targeted for maximum visibility and probability of sucessful crossover, rather than the carpet-bombing campaign which my initial enthusiasm led me to deploy.

At least, that's how I'm going to play it. Y'all make your own calls, of course.

Keep flyin'!



"The intelligent man always fights for the lost cause, realizing that all others are just effects"

-Ralph Waldo Emerson/Johnny Fever

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Tuesday, March 9, 2004 5:52 AM

CUDA


Quote:

Originally posted by Noocyte:

But we do apparently need to stay under the radar with this one (as any good Browncoat is well-advised to do!). The last thing we need is to slip over the line from "passionate, devoted, and energetic" to "rabidly evangelical" fans in the public perception, as the latter could very easily boomerang against Firefly. More pragmatically, I would hate to see Amazon tighten up the reins against recs for Firefly, and so lose us this venue.

Best to keep a slow, steady trickle of recommendations, well-targeted for maximum visibility and probability of sucessful crossover, rather than the carpet-bombing campaign which my initial enthusiasm led me to deploy.



Agreed, though I still believe that it is no problem for those who have not posted any Amazon recommendations, to do so.

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Tuesday, March 9, 2004 8:03 AM

SHINY


Well as of 3/9/04, here is the status of our 'Recommend Firefly' campaign; we're doing quite well! If you haven't yet recommended Firefly on amazon, you should choose just a couple of the titles in the 'not yet top recommendation' list below (if you recommend Firefly for too many different DVDs, apparently the system automatically deletes your recommendations as 'spam'):

Firefly is the most recommended DVD for all of the following top-25 best selling DVDs on Amazon:

2. Chappelle's Show (4 recommendations)
3. Lost In Translation (6 recommendations)
5. Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl (12 recommendations)
6. Stargate SG-1 Season 6 (16 recommendations)
7. School of Rock (5 recommendations)
10. Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete First Season (2 recommendations)
13. The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition) (18 recommendations)
17. Concert for George (2 recommendations)
18. Sex and the City - The Complete First Season (2 recommendations)
21. Swimming Pool (Unrated Version) (2 recommendations)

Firefly is not the top recommendation for:

1. Schindler's List (Widescreen Edition) (needs 1 more to be top recommendation)
4. Futurama, Vol. 3 (needs 1 more to be top recommendation)
9. Mona Lisa Smile (needs 1 more to be top recommendation)
16. Sex and the City - The Complete Fifth Season (needs 1 more to be top recommendation)
20. The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition) (needs 12 more to be top recommendation)
22. Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie (needs 2 more to be top recommendation)
24. Schindler's List (Full Screen Edition) (needs 1 more to be top recommendation)


These DVDs are not yet taking recommendations:
8. Something's Gotta Give
11. Finding Nemo
12. Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World
14. The Matrix Revolutions
15. Friends - The Complete Seventh Season
19. 21 Grams
23. Kill Bill
25. The Last Samurai (Widescreen Edition)

RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.

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Tuesday, March 9, 2004 8:05 AM

CUDA


Thanks Shiny, you rock. This is really starting to turn out beautifully!!

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Tuesday, March 9, 2004 1:16 PM

CUDA



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Wednesday, March 10, 2004 3:48 PM

SHINY


Firefly is now also the top recommendation for Futurama


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Wednesday, March 10, 2004 4:42 PM

JAYNESMYHERO


I posted my Favorite Firefly as the top recommendation for my favorite movies at Amazon. I had no qualms with this idea since I firmly believe in recommending Firefly to all viewers of my favorite shows. Thanks for the idea. I did not abuse this feature though it was tempting.


"I'll be in my bunk!"

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Thursday, March 11, 2004 11:13 AM

SHINY


We still need 9 more recommendations to be the top recommendation for LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition):

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000067DNF/ref=pd_ts_d_2
0/102-6665341-7589714?v=glance&s=dvd&n=404276


Also, it seems strange that there are still none under Schindler's List (Widescreen Edition) or Mona Lisa Smile -- have people been recommending there and just had their recommendations rejected?

RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.

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Thursday, March 11, 2004 4:01 PM

DELIA


It seems to me, based on the message CUDA got back from Amazon, that while targeting our recommendations is a good plan, each of us may get away with recommending Firefly more if we recommend other things as well. (Favorite books, movies, other TV shows, etc.) Just a thought.

Alternately, you could create a Listmania list featuring some of the high traffic items and include Firefly. That might also get some notice.

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Monday, March 15, 2004 8:53 PM

NOOCYTE


Resurrecting this thread to put the word out on an unfortunate spin-off from this Campaign.

This past Saturday (3/13), I received the following email:

Quote:


I'm writing to you because of your rather sensitive post on fireflyfans.net.
Firefly is number 63 in overall sales on Amazon, and that's really great!
But let me explain our situation.

We are a small completely independent band with one self-released CD out.
Many people happen to like it, but we're quite limited in our ability to spread
the word. Since we signed up for Amazon Advantage program, we used such
mechanisms as customer recommendations and listmania to associate our CD
with relevant products. By relevant I mean similar music style or, more
importantly, the theme. Our CD is a fun version of the story of Treasure Island,
and we've been listing under pirate-related items, including, obviously, Pirates
of the Caribbean. We've enjoyed modest sales, 1-2 a week - looks like people
follow the link, listen to our sample cuts and buy the CD because they like it.

Ever since the Recommend Firefly campaign started, we lost all sales. For the
last two weeks we haven't had a single sale. After doing some research we found
your site, so we have to appeal to your good will. Please don't kill our listings, and
please make an effort to restore our number one standing on the Pirates of the
Caribbean recommendations page.

Thank you very much for your understanding!

Sincerely,

Igor Koyfman
The Ben Gunn Society
www.bengunnsociety.com



Gave me pause. We of all people should be mindful of the degree to which we might be swamping some Independent (ahem!) band, trying to get the word out on their baby.

We do the impossible and that makes us mighty...but, to quote Uncle Ben, "With great power comes great responsibility." I personally have narrowed my recs to items which have conceptual/thematic/aesthetic affinities to FF (such as Westerns, SciFi films/books/soundtracks, certain action flix, and the like). As I'd said before, doing this would tend to increase the probabilities of successful crossover, and decrease the probability of stomping on smaller-scale operations like this guy's band (not my cup o' joe, but they seem like nice folk, who deserve better).

Just thought I'd put this out there (I felt a little responsible, as I'd done a fair bit of carpet-bombing myself...and he did single me out for this message {anyone else get one?}...called me sensitive, even ).

Keep flyin' (but mind where those engines are pointed, is all!)



Department of Redundancy Department

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Tuesday, March 16, 2004 6:46 AM

CUDA


I recieved this email from Amazon today:

Quote:


Hello again from Amazon.com.

It has come to our attention that there is a deliberately organized
campaign of Our Customers Advice recommendations being placed to
promote "Firefly." Please note that this is a violation of our
Conditions of Use and Participation Guidelines.

We are in the process of removing all Our Customers Advice
recommendations which have been placed for "Firefly" since March 1.

Please take a look at our participation guidelines and conditions of
use statement for more information:

http://www.amazon.com/o/tg/browse/-/508094/

http://www.amazon.com/o/tg/browse/-/508088/

Thank you for your cooperation.


Best regards,

Bert G.
Amazon.com Customer Service



Personally I think this is B.S. because we are all independent people that feel Firefly is an excellent DVD, and have chosen to recommend it to others. I don't see what's wrong with that. Besides, this also works in Amazon's favor, we are promoting a DVD they sell!

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Tuesday, March 16, 2004 7:03 AM

NOOCYTE


Alas, this is the boomerang I'd feared (quoth Noocyte, rubbing his *thwacked* head).

I do agree with you, CUDA, that independent people, recommending something they love, do no harm to anyone, and do boost sales of a product on Amazon's roster. And have no doubt that I am as avid as the next Browncoat in spreading the word.

However, an organized FanAc (fan activity) like the Recommend Firefly Campaign is another kind of beast. It sets energies in motion which are apt to overrun a site, and folks like the band that contacted me are like to get ground in the gears.

I for one, am not too upset to let the Recommend Firefly chapter close. We transiently boosted sales, looks like. We had some fun, watching the numbers dance. But it was, in the end a guerilla marketing tactic, and the dictum of a good guerilla is follow the bananas...I mean Keep Moving. And, I must re-iterate, there was collateral damage which I for one was uncomfortable inflicting.

on to the next challenge!

Keep Flyin'!





Department of Redundancy Department

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Tuesday, March 16, 2004 7:59 AM

SHINY


It would be fairer to allow one (the first?) firefly recommendation per account to remain, otherwise you are depriving paying customers of a voice. But perhaps their DBAs just aren't compentent enough or their managers just don't care, and would rather take the simplistic route and consider everything that forces them to use any of their brain cells as 'abuse' so they have an easy pre-defined response they can execute...robots. (said with a scornful Kaylee-to-Simon inflection)

RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.

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Tuesday, March 16, 2004 8:13 AM

RKLENSETH


We need to fight this. Just because we are more organized than other groups are doesn't mean they can do this. I am going to issue a complaint against this "Benn Gunn Society" as it was them that most likely reported this and they are doing the same exact thing to promote their damn CD.

Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.

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Tuesday, March 16, 2004 8:13 AM

NOOCYTE


I just chalk it up under 'punitive damages.'

It does kinda have a 'some people talk in class so everyone gets detention' vibe to it, which always rankles. Perhaps a more measured response would have been more fair.

Buuuuut... it was we who used the Amazon forum to mount a promotional fanac, in violation of their TOS, so we got the smackdown...along, no doubt, with innocent DVD buyers who've never heard of FFFandom. Which kinda bloweth.

But whaddya gonna do? We will rise again...just... elsewheres, is all.

Keep flyin'



Department of Redundancy Department

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Tuesday, March 16, 2004 8:32 AM

RKLENSETH


Look at their guidelines and tell me what rule we broke? Did someone post something on the Amazon.com Forum?

We didn't do anything wrong. We aren't company trying to sell our product. We are fans trying to tell other people how good this series is which is exactly what the purpose of the recommendations are. I plan on fighting this.

Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.

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Tuesday, March 16, 2004 8:38 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.


Sounds to me like they received complaints from people (like this so called band) about the campaign and this is the backlash.

I do not think they can keep you from recommending Firefly on similar DVDs such as westerns & sci fi shows, and if they do, they are only harming themselves as they sell the set themselves.

This is kind of petty on their part, but that is human nature I guess.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."


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Tuesday, March 16, 2004 8:39 AM

NOOCYTE


Oh, and RK;

Respectfully (really! I don't mean that in the usual "I'm too polite to say Eff You, so I'll say 'respectfully'" way!), I wouldn't be too hard on the Ben Gunn folks. Yes, technically, they are doing what we are doing, but I kinda see a moral (for want of a better term) distinction here. They are trying to get the word out on a creative pursuit which they worked on, and which is a source of livelihood (granted, apparently not a booming livelihood, but the point stands).

I mean, how do you think you would feel if you were in a band, writing material, putting out a CD, starting to see some nibbles....and a concerted activity of the fans of some TV show you'd never heard of just blew you off the radar? The fellow who wrote to me seemed like a decent bloke, he was way polite (a rare commodity outside of FFFandom on the Net these days!), and he had, IMHO, a legitimate beef. I'm for cutting them some slack.

Besides, we really don't know that it was the BGS which outed us. And besides besides, it would've been someone else eventually even if it wasn't them.

So why not let's be gracious about this, and move on to another skirmish line. Mayhap in a month or two, we can quietly and carefully start with a measured trickle of recs, just to put us back on the radar (I keep using that metaphor. I must be stopped).

Eh?

Keep Flyin'!



Department of Redundancy Department

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Tuesday, March 16, 2004 8:43 AM

SHINY


How much do you want to bet that those recommendations for the 'Ben Gun Society' were not made by people with a vested interest in selling those CDs? So it's not fair if a bunch of dedicated fans want to promote their great show for no financial gain but it *IS* fair for a no-name band to spam with their own recommendations?

RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.

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Tuesday, March 16, 2004 8:51 AM

NOOCYTE


Your point is well-taken, SHINY. There is a vested interest for the BGS which we, laboring for love, do not share. I do, however, have a soft spot in my heart for Indie bands, trying to make it outside of the Evil Recording Industry Alliance, as a number of my friends are trying to keep that boat afloat. I'm willing to cut them some slack, and mindful that others may not share my bias on this.

And, to be fair, if FF were in the same place it was in last year, and we didn't have a BDM in the works (which is apt to be the single most powerful promotion for the DVD as the buzz gets out [and we will SURELY have a hand in that buzz] ), I might be less disposed to altruism.

But we're not in a bad place right now; we can afford to be gracious. But that's just my opinion, mind you.

Department of Redundancy Department

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Tuesday, March 16, 2004 9:11 AM

BRITCHICK


Hi All

I think we should seriously cool off trying to post on Amazon.

If we keep on like this all that will happen is people will start to ignore our recommendations on the basis of "oh its them".

The belief that all positive reviews are just part of some crazy fan club effortwill spread to other non-Amazon sites as well.

We've already seen reviews calling us a "cult"!

Let's not ruin all the good work done so far by going over the top!

We've had a good run, let's put our efforts into the next thing, and learn from what happened at Amazon.





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Wednesday, March 24, 2004 9:03 AM

RKLENSETH


Quote:

TV is too small for it, March 23, 2004
Reviewer: bengunnsociety (see more about me) from Los Angeles, CA United States
I learned of Firefly as a result of a run-in with its hardcore fans, admittedly a perfectly legitimate conflict of interest. They really go overboard in their efforts to promote the show (like two major studios being behind it isn't enough), and reading these reviews and particularly noticing the pattern of their usefulness ratings you'd think the show ought to be overrated. But come with an open mind, and look at the facts. The story sounds good enough to give it a try. I rented the first DVD, and now I'm buying the whole series, because it's definitely worth repeat viewing.

If you like good sci-fi movies, like Blade Runner or the Terminator, consider getting this DVD. I'd say Firefly was too good for TV (as I remember it, I quit watching TV a while back), which might explain why it got cancelled. The execution nearly reaches a theatrical movie level, acting is excellent and attention to detail is great. Sci-fi TV has got some pretty advanced shows like Stargate SG-1, but Firefly is just a different level of movie making.

Read the editorial reviews for the story and get this series if it sounds interesting. It will exceed your expectations.



I guess I'll lay off of those Ben Gunn Society after seeing that review.



Oh, and play Cantr II at www.cantr.net.

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Wednesday, March 24, 2004 10:31 AM

SBWATCHER


I just read that shiny review today and didn't realize it was the same person/group. "Too good for TV", that's exactly what the Firefly music guy (I forget his name) said about the show in an interview posted here some time ago.

It seems to me that Amazon was stoned when they decided to come up with recommendation lists given the ability to spam in this medium (not everybody works best when they're stoned like Joss ). And, eventually, they will cut out the whole thing.

Don't get me wrong, I believe EVERYONE should watch Firefly, and those who don't do it willingly should be tied to a chair and placed in front of the TV for 15 straight hours - consider it an intervention. However, I firmly believe Serenity will shine on the big screen, and, hopefully, back on TV afterwards, based on it's own merits.

"What's sanguine mean again?"

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