As much as I still resent Blockbuster Video for using predatory pricing to put every local video store that I loved out of business, their ordeal is just getting sad. For their first advertising campaign since 2007, the currently bankrupt company ignored our suggestions and instead opted to brag about getting new releases 28 days before Netflix and Redbox. Now NCR, which operates Blockbuster's kiosks nationwide, has shot that selling point down by making a deal with Warner Brothers that requires Blockbuster to wait the same 28 days. Ouch.
Blockbuster will still get movies from some studios earlier (about half of the market share), and will still get Warner Brothers films earlier in their stores. That said, it's actually an advantage that they touted for months before their bankruptcy, so it seems like it may be time to try a marketing strategy or uh, maybe a new business model. Apparently, they are paying huge premiums for these 28 days, which is a large part of why NCR is making this deal. In any case, if ads like these even keep running, expect a lot more fine print at the end.
As of now the company is still reorganizing to get out of bankruptcy with their sites set on Spring 2011. Good luck, guys.