As you all probably know, SaveMentalist has been organising Tweetathons and we've been trending every single day! Now that most people have tapped into their inner crazy "save the show" mentality, we're introducing our next project, which takes the campaign straight to the CBS HQ. We want to be heard, folks!
— What is "Hop into a Hug in a Cup"?
As the name (credit to a fellow Mentalista of ours) suggests, we'll be sending packages filled with a variety of tea & frog-related items to Nina Tassler, who is the Head of CBS's Entertainment Division. Fans of shows in the past have done this before, and now it's our turn to show the executives just how much we love the show, and how many of us are out there!
Ms. Nina Tassler
President, CBS Entertainment
CBS Entertainment
7800 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90039-2112
— What kinds of things are we sending exactly?
"A frog? This makes everything better doesn't it?" — Teresa Lisbon (1x01 Pilot)
- stuffed frogs / frog toys *
- origami frogs with messages written on them
- frog-shaped tea bags
"Tea? It's like a hug in a cup." — Patrick Jane (3x04 Red Carpet Treatment)
- boxes of tea *
- plastic toy tea sets / other tea-related toys *
- empty decorated tea containers filled with little frog trinkets, tea packets, etc.
* We require that you send at least one item with a * after. Why? Because we're trying to make a statement to CBS. All the other items could be seen as "useless trash", as much meaning as they hold for us. They can be handed off to interns to throw away, and that's not what we want to happen. Toys and tea are solid items that CBS can donate to charities after they receive them, so we'd be killing two birds with one stone — making our statement and giving our show some positive publicity. With that in mind, please make sure your toys are in acceptable donating condition, and tea must be sealed and untampered with in its ORIGINAL packaging.
— But I'm an international fan! How does this work?
International fans can send frogs and tea to CBS via Amazon, Ebay, or Etsy. Simply look for an item you want to send from any of those sites via a USA-based seller, choose a "gift" option (wording will vary depending on site) and send it directly to CBS! You won't have to pay customs or international shipping fees. An added bonus is that almost all gift options will allow you to attach a personal message.
If you don't mind international shipping fees, and have experiencing sending packages by yourself to the US, then feel free to send your own package! You can even give your frog/tea gifts a little cultural twist to keep things interesting. Keep in mind the date you should send your package by in the deadlines section below.
NOTE TO INTERNATIONALS: There are four American Mentalistas who have each been assigned a group of countries. We will be making a huge load of paper frogs and putting them in empty (hopefully) decorated tea containers, along with our own little stuffed frogs or trinkets, and sending them to CBS. If you are an international fan OR an underaged American with no means of sending a personal message in the form of a paper frog and would like to, please download >this file< with special instructions.
April 08: International participants send out packages. (PLEASE NOTE: If you're an international BUT you're sending a package to CBS via a US seller, you should order your items and have the seller send it out by the US deadline, which is April 15.)
April 10: Deadline for international participants to send information to assigned Americans re: paper frog messages.
April 15: U.S. participants send out packages.
April 22-29: All packages hopefully arrive around this time.
...
May 14: Upfronts
— Important Guidelines (PLEASE READ!)
- <We ask that if you are participating in this project, to put the words "Hop into a Hug in a Cup" somewhere in your package to CBS. This is so that the campaign appears uniform and they are aware all these packages are from one campaign.
- Please contact us in some way to let us know you've sent a package! We'd like to keep a tab on the numbers.
- Please keep your messages personal, unique, and smart! ;) Do not undermine or disrespect the decisions that Nina Tassler has made in her business. Do not say things like, "the move to Sunday night was horrible", "football destroyed us", etc. These packages are addressed directly to her, and all these decisions are approved by her. If you give derogatory or sly comments, you are undermining her ability to run her corporation, and we don't want her to get a bad impression of us as a fandom.
- Remember we are sending MESSAGES, not letters. It is quite likely that no one will read hundreds of multi-page letters, so it's important to keep your message extremely short: Short enough to fit on a paper frog or inside a tea box! The stars of this project are the items! There is a separate project in the works for writing formal letters, so no worries. :)
- Some examples of messages: Your favourite things about The Mentalist, what The Mentalist has done for you, things you've learned from The Mentalist, your favourite quotes, etc! And of course, reasons YOU would love another season.
- Be sure to say thank you!
Questions, or need additional clarification? Hit us up on Twitter, here, or via email! And remember — tell your family and friends about this and get them in on it!
