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Unnecessary Roughness

(Which implies that there's such a thing as necessary roughness. I digress...)

One of our favorite movies is Shrek 2, and we went ahead and purchased the DVD earlier this year, which has a long (3 minute+) trailer/ad for Madagascar which you must watch every time you play the disc. No skipping, no other menus, no nothing.

Every stinkin' time.

I'm sure Dreamworks was thinking along the lines of "well, they gotta watch trailers and ads before they see it in a theater, why not do the same on the DVD?"

Short-sighted thinking there, people. When I see a movie in a theater, I expect and am accustomed to trailers which both reflect upcoming releases and are different each time I go. This ad for Madagascar (did I mention it plays every time you put the disc in? Did I?) never changes, and advertises a movie that's already out of the theaters. Two years from now, heck, 2 months from now, I won't care about it, it'll be long gone, but I'll still have to watch this ad if I want to see Shrek 2. And to make matters worse, there's no warning on the packaging or option to but a version without the ad. Which plays every time you play the disc.

So in return for a short-term goal of boosting ticket sales, Dreamworks has damaged the relationship they have with their customers. I'll think twice about buying the DVD for Madagascar or any other Dreamworks DVD, as I know they're okay with forcing their message on me when I don't want it.

You don't think their policy of non-skippable ads had anything to do with this, do you?

Naaah.

Maybe they'll learn their lesson. Maybe they won't. But I know I'm now going to read the reviews of any Dreamworks DVD first before I buy it.

“Unnecessary Roughness”

  1. Blogger Adam Nollmeyer Says:

    Hmmm, I wonder how this applies to me. As a photographer I place my logo on my work, however I try to keep it discreet.

    I don't place my LOGO or 'photography by" bigger than life on the front of a album cover. I feel my work speaks for it's self however, I want the customer to be able to look at the photo 5 years later and remember to call me again.

    I have seen other photographers who brand their logo WAY TOO BIG, or in the wrong places.
    ~Adam N.