For Super Bowl Stunt, Blockbuster Releases Commercial on VHS

Should employees at the last Blockbuster prepare for a rush of customers now that the company is releasing its first commercial in a decade? Certainly not. Still, the brand is getting some buzz through a Super Bowl stunt developed with Atlantic New York.

There’s no media buy. But on Feb. 12, at a Big Game watch party broadcast live from the store in Bend, Ore., manager Sandi Harding will play the :30 on VHS like it’s 1989.

This buggy teaser rocks an apocalyptic vibe:

“The world as we know it may be coming to an end, but we refuse to go down without a fight,” Harding says. “We want to remind everyone that there’s something special about the tangible experience of browsing the shelves and discovering something new. And honestly, if the world is ending, we want to go out with a bang.”

Somehow, one imagines that Blockbuster, like cockroaches and McDonald’s patties, will endure until the sun cools to a blackened cinder. 

“America loves rooting for the little guy, so perhaps they might find it in their hearts to root for one of its littlest,” says Atlantic CD Dan Greener. “And maybe in the process celebrate what the Big Game is all about: gathering around a screen with your friends and family to watch something special happen. That’s an experience Blockbuster happens to know a thing or two about.”

NYC indie filmmakers Theodore Schaefer and Paul Gale directed the ad. In a cute touch, folks will be able to rent it at Dish-owned Blockbuster for just $2 a day.

Can I get a copy on Beta?

FEB 12. UPDATE – Nah, won’t need a cassette, here’s the full film:

CREDITS

Client: Blockbuster
Directors: Theodore Schaefer and Paul Gale
Production Company: Dweck Productions and Having Changed Productions
Sound and Music: Max Phillips 
VFX: Danny Behar 
Color: Sam Gursky 
Finishing: Irving Harvey

Agency: Atlantic New York
Co-Founder and CCO: Joao Coutinho
Co-Founder and CCO: Marco Pupo
Partner and Managing Director: Suzanne Barbosa
Creative Director: Daniel Greener
Art Director: Elizabeth Cala
Art Director: Jessica Morford
Copywriter: A.O. Baker
Senior Strategist: Gabriela Conci
Head of Production: Greg Jenkins