‘Our Flag Means Death’ On Top for 6th Week, Renewal News Updates

Parrot Analytics has released its report for the week of April 23rd-29th, and Our Flag Means Death has held onto the top spot for a sixth week. But fans are increasingly worried about the lack of renewal news from HBO Max. Rumors about it not being renewed are starting to spread.

Parrot Analytics takes into account numerous factors when determining what’s ‘in demand’ list including social media, streaming numbers, reviews, and a whole lot more. Our Flag Means Death first topped the chart the week of its finale, unseating the Book of Boba Fett, which had held onto the top spot for over three months. Now, despite a major Marvel property having an incredible final two episodes, we’ve managed to hold onto our top ranking. 

In addition to Parrot Analytics ‘in demand’ rankings, we’re doing incredibly well in several other places, including Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb. And, to the surprise of nobody, the fanwork is completely off the charts. Fanfic and fanart are being produced in an incredibly large volume daily. We’re talking hundreds of fanfics and dozens of pieces of art getting churned out every single day across the Internet. And the crafts on Etsy and Redbubble are mounting, too.

Despite this impressive showing, there’s still no renewal news. What gives?

Our Flag Means Death Rumor Patrol

A self-proclaimed member of the art department posted this message in a private Facebook fan group. This person was supposedly told by their boss yesterday that Our Flag Means Death wasn’t happening ‘this year.’ Some have taken that to mean they just won’t get around to producing it in 2022, while others see it as a potential sign that it won’t be renewed at all. The tone of the post seems to indicate the latter, but it’s not entirely clear.

How trustworthy is this source? We don’t know. However, people who are in the same private Facebook group as this person say that they’ve posted behind-the-scenes pictures to the group before, which lends some credit to them being a legitimate source. We have not been able to independently verify it ourselves, though, so it’s very possible that this is not true. It’s alarming if it is, though.

This alone may or may not have set us off, but then they announced the renewal for another show and now we’re all sort of panicking. We thought maybe the delay was because of HBO’s merger situation. But that show got a renewal in the middle of it and ours didn’t? That’s worrying.

So what do we do?

New Our Flag Means Death Renewal Campaigns

We’ve covered a ton of fan campaigns already. Start out at 5 Things You Can Do to Help ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Get Season 2 and Our Flag Means Death: Upcoming Renewal Events for the basics. We cover things in those articles like Twitter trending events, postcard campaigns, and other basic methods of making your voice heard. 

If you haven’t done those tasks, it’s a good place to start. Twitter is free and postcards can be generated and sent on your behalf for as little as $3. You can do them both in twenty minutes or less.

Now, however, I want to focus on two specific things that we should be doing. It’s time to hone in on some pointed strategies and get loud.  

Message In A Bottle

I have started a ‘message in a bottle’ campaign. Kind of fun to think of the HBO offices being inundated with bottles, right? It’ll certainly get their attention at the very least. And getting their attention is the most important thing at the moment.  

Here’s what you can do to send one of your own:

Make Your Own

• • • How to Mail a Message in a Bottle

Purchase It From Someone Else

• • • Invitations in a Bottle ($2-$49)
      • Especially the Pirate themed one
    • Attic209 ($3)
    • Love in a Box ($4)
    • Those Bookish Gifts ($5.69)
    • Black Cat Art Studio ($7.85)
    • Three Orchards ($11)
    • 3LittlePeeps ($12)
    • Wildflwrdragon ($12.75)
    • Fairy Clever Creations ($15)
    • Mystic Sea Shop ($19)
    • Ebony Rose Designs ($19)
    • K2 Artistry Handmade ($20)
    • Message In A Bottle Store ($25-$28)
    • Ocean Grams ($50-120)

All bottles can be mailed to the following address:

HBO 
30 Hudson Yards
New York City, NY 10001

Billboard (Possibly?)

This portion of the campaign is in the very early stages. I’m currently organizing a group of people to explore those options here. At the moment we are scouting locations and companies. Once we have some quotes, we will make a decision about moving forward. It’s possible the details of this campaign could change depending on what we hear back from the companies we’ve contacted. 

If you’re interested in helping, reach out on Twitter and I’ll add you to the planning chat. I don’t know how far this will go, but it’s worth a shot!

Should We Be Worried?

The short and incredibly vague answer is… maybe. 

Right now it’s best to assume the worst-case scenario and get active immediately. If we happen to be overreacting, we certainly didn’t hurt anything. At worst, we showed the network just how beloved the show is and spent some money we maybe didn’t have to spend. Right now you can spend as little as $2 to get the supplies needed to send a message in a bottle. The billboard will be a lot more, but we don’t have a quote yet.

If we do nothing, though, and the rumors are true, we’ll regret not having done more when we could. A lot of people say that it’d be silly for them to not renew the show, so we should maybe calm down a bit. But what if we’re wrong? It’s best to assume that it’s the worst-case scenario and act accordingly. I’ve done many of these types of campaigns and I’ve never regretted participating.

If you have an idea that isn’t on this list, please reach out! And if you’re in New York City, especially reach out as we may need some scouting in person for some of our ideas. There are other people doing other things that also require a presence there, too, and you’d be greatly appreciated.

Good luck, crew! Let’s get to work.

Author: Angel Wilson

Angel is the admin of The Geekiary and a geek culture commentator. They earned a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. They have contributed to various podcasts and webcasts including An Englishman in San Diego, Free to Be Radio, and Genre TV for All. They identify as queer.

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