Save 'The 4400', Save The World

Pardon the "Heroes" pun, but fans of the 4400 have a situation as rash as that of poor Peter Petrelli.

Our textbook, "Citizen Marketers", opens with a case study on the almost-doomed third album of Fiona Apple. Sony, Apple's label, was hesitant to release the album, entitled "Extraordinary Machine" after they were less than pleased with the results of the recording sessions. Dave Muscato, a musician from Missouri, was enraged by the label's discrimination against Apple, and on November 20, 2004, began the website www.freefiona.com, in which he solicited petitioners to help encourage the album's release. He went so far as to engrave petitioner's names onto plastic apples, mailing them to the studio along with the paper petition, signed by thousands of people. His efforts worked, and the album was released in September of 2005.

A similar situation is popping up today. The USA Network's television program, "The 4400", has been announced as canceled. The series had developed a devout cult following during it's four seasons on the air, and fans are fighting to keep the show around, or at least get a season finale which would serve to tie up loose ends. At www.savethe4400.net, fans can electronically sign a petition to save the show. Along with the petition, those in charge of the site are asking viewers to buy packages of sunflower seeds to send to the network, a concept pertaining to the show. A Youtube video and a myspace page, have been created in conjunction with the campaign.