Promotional Campaigns
This page documents the promotional campaigns for Supernatural. You may list commercials, billboard series and other specific campaigns here.
You might also be interested in the Interviews page or Marketing category
Contents
Season 1
"TV Show To Debut on the Web"
- 9 September 2005 (StudioBriefing)
- Hoping to persuade viewers to sample its new series Supernatural, starring Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, The WB plans to make the first episode available online without commercials from now until the show airs on Sept. 13. David Katz, head of sports and entertainment for Yahoo!, told the online edition of Advertising Age: "They've given us a unique, exclusive window to premier a television episode before it runs on television. In exchange for that, we are promoting this feature on Yahoo! TV and throughout the network because we think it's compelling to users." Garth Ancier, chairman of The WB, said that he did not believe the stratagem would cost the show viewers. "I think the nature of streaming is such that generally it's more for awareness than actual viewing. There will be some people who will watch it on their small PC screen, but the majority of people will [just] sample it," he told AdAge.
Scary Just Got Sexy
- UK's TV1 promo, released early 2006. Featuring Echo & The Bunnymen's "Killing Time"
- This tagline was also used for marketing Supernatural in Australia, where it aired on Channel 10.
Fear is a luxury
Wicked... rest uneasy.
One hell of a time for a family reunion.
The creepy. THE DEMENTED. The UNEXPLAINED. The unearthly.
Tagline on Season 1 DVD blurb.
SEASON 2
Free To Be...
- The CW Network's new seasonal marketing campaign, late 2006.
Australian campaigns
In preparation for the premiere of Season 2 on January 15, 2007 on Channel 10:
- Australian music video program 'Video Hits' airs Video Hits Presents: The Music of Supernatural on Sunday 14 January. (source)
- Media release on January 9, 2007 announces: Australian first: Ten premieres Warner Bros, Supernatural, series 2 premier online
Dot Pushing
- In February 2007, Network Ten began promoting the year’s programming (new series usually start airing in Australia in February and are played straight through to June without any significant breaks) with a re-designed website and new promos.
The promos featured stars from shows including Law and Order: SVU and CI, NCIS, and Supernatural, shot in black and white with a white background.
The tagline for the promos were “I believe…” and various versions were made, varying in length and whether they focused on one sho or a mix of shows.
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Jensen’s lines included:
- I believe in the unknown: monsters, aliens, scary ex-girlfriends.
- I believe there are forces you don’t want to mess with… like me.
- There’s no better place to be.
Jared’s lines included:
- I believe in keeping an open mind. A very open mind
- I believe one day my brother will get me killed
- I believe there is no better place to be.
- I believe. What can I say? I believe
And from both:
- Seriously. Ten. Seriously Supernatural.
The footage for the ads was shot against a green curtain while the boys were filming Nightshifter, based on the clothes they are wearing.
The Network logo was a blue dot and a yellow dot. Another series of promos featured the dot in the middle of the screen, and an actor from a show approaching it. When they pushed one of the dots it would explode into a squiggle. This lead to the nickname by fans of the whole campaign as the ‘dot pushing’ ads and lead to various double entendres about the boys pushing dots.
Network Ten has increasingly adopted many cross-media approaches used by the CW, with whom it shares a target demographic. In 2007, for the first time in Australia for any show, Supernatural episodes were available for free download after the episode had aired. It posted clips of the promos as well as a blooper reel of Jensen and Jared’s filming for them. A forum for the show was established although it is not particularly active.
