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Blu For Retail Merchandise Exclusives
April 8, 2008

Retail exclusive disc add-ons are in effect as ever before, but just not so much for Blu-ray titles. Starting today at Best Buy, you'll receive a free tote bag when you buy The Water Horse, but only when you pick up the standard DVD version. It's the same story for Walk Hard, where buying the 2-disc standard-def title will score a free Dewey Cox T-shirt at Best Buy. But you get no such bonus when purchasing the Walk Hard BD edition.
Yes, I don't know how much anyone really needs another bag or T-shirt. But for the true fan of these films, retail exclusives do provide an extra incentive to purchase. 
It strikes me as odd that Blu-ray consumers are getting edged out of the deals. 
For one thing, they're paying more for their version of these titles, so you'd think they'd get rewarded for their relatively larger investment. Walk Hard and The Water Horse are both $29.99 on BD, and $22.99 and $19.99 on standard-def, respectively. 
Also, isn't now the time to offer BD retail exclusives, and help create excitement for the still-fledgling format? Best Buy is one of the retailers that very publicly announced its marketing support to Blu. 
Typically, studios dole out merchandise exclusives according to how much stores commit to ordering particular titles. And at least right now, no retailer is ordering large amounts of BD product to warrant frequent exclusives. But hopefully studios and retailers can work together to offer the poor BD consumer a little something, something every once in awhile.

Posted by Susanne Ault on April 8, 2008 | Comments (0)