Blockbuster Video is doing a Super Bowl stunt—with cockroaches

Sometimes the best part of Super Bowl season is seeing brands that definitely don’t have millions of dollars to spend trying to hijack the night. Newcastle Brown Ale from 2014 is the classic example, though the Old Milwaukee spot from 2012 with Will Ferrell (which aired in one market in Nebraska) was pretty fantastic, too. Now, this year in that vein, we’ve got a fun stunt from a brand that’s a real blast from the past—Blockbuster Video. As those who watched the 2020 documentary “The Last Blockbuster” will know, there is one Blockbuster Video rental store still standing. It’s in Bend, Oregon. And that store is now embarking on a Super Bowl campaign for this year’s game—which includes a few just-released teasers with an apocalyptic theme. “Is the world coming to an end or is Blockbuster releasing its first commercial in a really, really long time? Yes. See you on 2/12,” says the copy on the Instagram video below. A post shared by The Official Last Blockbuster (@blockbusterbend) There’s a second video, too, also cockroach-themed: It goes without saying that the game-day commercial itself will not be a national spot. You can’t even call it regional. Let’s call it hyperlocal. It will run at one location only—inside the Blockbuster store in Bend, Oregon, where store manager Sandi Harding will play it on a TV from a VHS copy. Don’t fret, though—if you really want to see it, they are going to be broadcasting the whole event live on Instagram. As goofy as it is, the stunt's meta weirdness is fun—roping an all-but-forgotten cult brand into the biggest media circus of the year. And if the apocalyptic theme is a little dark, that’s on brand, too—for a company that’s been left for dead (yet lives on!). “We know that the world as we know it may be coming to an end, but we refuse to go down without a fight,” Harding said in press materials sent to Ad Age. “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.” Super Bowl marketing All the latest Big Game ad news in one spot Click here for updates The stunt was dreamed up by the agency Atlantic New York. “We figured that America loves rooting for the little guy so perhaps they might find it in their hearts to root for one of its littlest,” said Dan Greener, a creative director at the agency. “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. An experience Blockbuster happens to know a thing or two about.” The commercial was directed by Theodore Schaefer and Paul Gale, a pair of award-winning NYC-based indie filmmakers, and co-produced by Dweck Productions and Having Changed Productions. The VHS tape containing the commercial will be available for rent after game day, for only $2 a day. The agency tells Ad Age that the store has been getting lots of calls since the teasers dropped earlier this week. “It's funny that people are making actual calls to the store—very Blockbuster,” one agency source told Ad Age.

Blockbuster Video is doing a Super Bowl stunt—with cockroaches

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