Tuesday, January 25, 2005

FEE-BLE

Being a supporter of the underdog, I don’t do Blockbuster, so it took a while to look up at the rental chain’s Porter Square Galleria site to gawk in disbelief at the awful signs advertising its changes.

“The end of late fees,” the signs say. “The start of more.”

Um, what?

Blockbuster is claiming it is offering more services even as it ends the odious late fee, but this conclusion can only be reached after rejecting the more obvious conclusion: As one late fee ends, more late fees are beginning. (Or more of other kinds of fees. These would include, really, forcibly “being sold” the videotape or digital videodisc returned more than a week late — the replacement for a late fee! — or, within 30 days, returning it for store credit minus a “restocking fee.”)

The brilliant, trademarked “end/start” slogan was apparently done by the Doner ad agency, of Michigan, which did better with “What would you do for a Klondike Bar?” and “Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.”

By all rights, this should be the end of Blockbuster’s relationship with the agency. And the start of another.

Does that need clarifying?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I don't rent from Blockbuster, I borrow from the library, or as I like to say, "the end of paying to borrow movies." But I do sometimes buy used videos I really want from Blockbuster (or from Newbury Comics, which has a better selection).

Having said that... I do think their new ads are a tiny bit funny. Totally irrelevant to me, but a tiny bit funny.