The Our Flag Means Death #RenewAsACrew campaign may very well be the most unstoppable movement in modern fandom, now scoring prime real estate with a Times Square billboard.
The hot pink statement piece cut boldly through a cold New York weekend and served as a call to arms, directing viewers to the official Renew as a Crew website for more information on how to get involved. According to Them, Our Flag Means Death fans contributed to the billboard through a GoFundMe campaign, and anyone who’s been following this story of this fandom closely will not be surprised to hear that the funding goal was obliterated in under an hour. The billboard initiative ultimately doubled its $10,000 objective, affording a two-day billboard in Times Square as well as further bus and subway ads, and even a plane ad that will fly over Max’s Los Angeles offices.
To further celebrate the success of the billboard campaign, Renew as a Crew has organized meet-ups for Our Flag Means Death fans to commemorate the Time Square accomplishment. Our Flag Means Death showrunner David Jenkins and multiple cast members who have sailed alongside him on The Revenge expressed their gratitude towards the fandom and its monumental renewal push. “You make me feel like I belong to something,” Jenkins wrote to fans in an Instagram post featuring the Times Square billboard.
The Renew as a Crew website featured on the billboard provides a link to Our Flag Means Death‘s Change renewal petition and provides contact information for fans to direct their calls, emails, and physical mail to officials at Max. In addition to donating money to their renewal efforts, Our Flag Means Death fans have leveraged the disappointing blow of cancellation to actualize the inclusive message at the heart of the series itself. Currently, Renew as a Crew has donated over $16,000 to the queer Aotearoa-based (New Zealand) charity, RainbowYOUTH.
Though Renew as a Crew’s efforts have traveled beyond the confines of the web, the official website and social media pages for the movement are still the best hubs to visit for more information on getting involved in the campaign.