Blockbuster Offers Journalists Bribes For Anti-Netflix Tweets

[Formica Archonis]

I just checked the hashtag #GoodbyeNetflix on twitter to see the responses. Most of them were people tweeting the news, followed closely by people making fun of Blockbuster saying they weren't leaving Netflix and one was legitimately leaving because of the name Qwickster. I don't know why I find this interesting or why any of you would, but now you know.

Funny, I was expecting more "I want to leave Netflix but Blockbuster closed all its stores in my area. #GoodbyeBothOfYou"

 

[RelexCryo]

I don't think this counts as a bribe...they are actually just making the same offer to journalists that they are making to everyone else. That doesn't really seem like a bribe to journalists in particular. More like a universal business promotion.

 

[ace_of_something]

Uh, yeah. Free for a year from a business that's on it's way down the toilet. Yeah. Good luck finding someone foolish enough to take that offer.

What does someone lose by having something that is FREE? Even if it only actually lasts a month. It's still a free month.

Hells yeah i'll take that bribe. I think the only fricken blockbuster left in the state (which has no 'going out of business signs) is like 1/2 a mile from my house.

It's not like anyone actually reads an average joe's twitter anyway. Unless you're a famous person, then tons of people follow you.

edit: Before you say anything i live in the 'country' outside of a major city. So I have to drive into town to get my mail anyway, (IE Netflix) and my internet is shit for streaming anything... so yeah.

 

[cynicalandbored]

Contrary to Brandon Behan's logic, there is such a thing as bad publicity, and this is some really bad publicity.

Sorry if this seem's overly picky, but it's Brendan Behan...

 

[Knife-28]

It's strange, the blockbuster in my town shows no sign of shutting down, and I live in the ass end of nowhere, more or less. Unless it's going to quietly pack up it's bags in the middle of the night, I see no sign of it going anywhere. Then again, the Australian stores might just be doing better that the American ones, in which case, go Australia!

 

[DigitalSushi]

Wow, trying to bride Ryan Davis, the colleague of Jeff Gertsmann both from GiantBomb a website that was set up after the Jeff's departure from GameSpot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Gerstmann

I mean on its own its a stupid idea, coupled with Jeff's history... that's fucking outstanding Blockbuster

Looks like Blockbuster's attempt to buy Giant Bomb really blew up in their faces

HOLD ON A MINUTE!

Spoiler

Much better.

 

[Low Key]

Bias reporting. This isn't "scummy" at all. It's no different than a company running an ad on TV where they have customers saying product A is better than product B. It happens all the time.

Blockbuster may be going down the shitter, and I may not shed a tear for them when they eventually die, but don't go and get your panties in a bunch because they are trying to capitalize on their competitor being assholes by trying to charge their customers twice as much.

Besides, Escapist employees, don't ever say you haven't been offered as well as accepted gifts, you know, at like a gaming convention. I believe you guys call it swag. It may not explicitly be to give a good review, but it does make you look favorably on whomever gave it to you. It happens in all forms of business. Hell, it even happens in government. I'm sure you've heard of lobbyists.

 

[WilliamRLBaker]

I saw we all start doing @blockbuster with the hashtag #stillnotusingyourshitservice

 

[Denamic]

Bias reporting. This isn't "scummy" at all. It's no different than a company running an ad on TV where they have customers saying product A is better than product B. It happens all the time.

Blockbuster may be going down the shitter, and I may not shed a tear for them when they eventually die, but don't go and get your panties in a bunch because they are trying to capitalize on their competitor being assholes by trying to charge their customers twice as much.

Besides, Escapist employees, don't ever say you haven't been offered as well as accepted gifts, you know, at like a gaming convention. I believe you guys call it swag. It may not explicitly be to give a good review, but it does make you look favorably on whomever gave it to you. It happens in all forms of business. Hell, it even happens in government. I'm sure you've heard of lobbyists.

Perhaps, but I'm pretty sure they don't give you the 'swag' under the condition that you publicly say you'd rather play their game rather than anyone else's.

 

[Low Key]

Bias reporting. This isn't "scummy" at all. It's no different than a company running an ad on TV where they have customers saying product A is better than product B. It happens all the time.

Blockbuster may be going down the shitter, and I may not shed a tear for them when they eventually die, but don't go and get your panties in a bunch because they are trying to capitalize on their competitor being assholes by trying to charge their customers twice as much.

Besides, Escapist employees, don't ever say you haven't been offered as well as accepted gifts, you know, at like a gaming convention. I believe you guys call it swag. It may not explicitly be to give a good review, but it does make you look favorably on whomever gave it to you. It happens in all forms of business. Hell, it even happens in government. I'm sure you've heard of lobbyists.

Perhaps, but I'm pretty sure they don't give you the 'swag' under the condition that you publicly say you'd rather play their game rather than anyone else's.

Are you an Escapist employee? That comment was meant for them, and I expanded on it with "but it does make you look favorably on whomever gave it to you", meaning they may not say nice things about said company, but they are less inclined to say bad things about them as well. It works both ways, especially when a bad review is more detrimental than a good review is helpful in the video game industry. So if there was any confusion about what I said, I hope that cleared it up for you.

 

[razer17]

No way!? A dying company uses slightly shady business practices in order to stay afloat? I would never have dreamt of such a thing...

Anyway, so what? Companies exist to make money, and if they go bankrupt, a lot of people lose a lot of money and their jobs. This was only the wrong thing to do for them because it gives them bad publicity, not because it's somewhat distasteful, because that's just business.

 

[BanicRhys]

Who the hell would take a bribe like that. If Blockbuster was smart they'd have offered a decent amount of cash.

Talk about stingy.

 

[Denamic]

So if there was any confusion about what I said, I hope that cleared it up for you.

Mmm, nope.
You pretty much just ignored my point and repeated yourself.
Well whatever.

 

[Epona]

Bias reporting. This isn't "scummy" at all. It's no different than a company running an ad on TV where they have customers saying product A is better than product B. It happens all the time.

Blockbuster may be going down the shitter, and I may not shed a tear for them when they eventually die, but don't go and get your panties in a bunch because they are trying to capitalize on their competitor being assholes by trying to charge their customers twice as much.

Besides, Escapist employees, don't ever say you haven't been offered as well as accepted gifts, you know, at like a gaming convention. I believe you guys call it swag. It may not explicitly be to give a good review, but it does make you look favorably on whomever gave it to you. It happens in all forms of business. Hell, it even happens in government. I'm sure you've heard of lobbyists.

Well it is scummy even if it does happen all the time. As if we all love lobbyists.

 

[carletonman]

Oh me oh my! Blockbuster, you silly company! If you're going to try and buy journalists with free service in return for positive press, you'll have try harder. Seriously though, I'm doing a degree in Journalism right now, and on day one of my program they sat all of us down and said "To maintain your integrity and your chance of EVER getting a job in this field, DO NOT under any circumstances take a bribe."

Of course, three years later, many of us could probably be bought with a fine bottle of scotch. Are you listening blockbuster? Scotch is the answer.

 

[Styggr]

Bias reporting. This isn't "scummy" at all. It's no different than a company running an ad on TV where they have customers saying product A is better than product B. It happens all the time.

Blockbuster may be going down the shitter, and I may not shed a tear for them when they eventually die, but don't go and get your panties in a bunch because they are trying to capitalize on their competitor being assholes by trying to charge their customers twice as much.

Besides, Escapist employees, don't ever say you haven't been offered as well as accepted gifts, you know, at like a gaming convention. I believe you guys call it swag. It may not explicitly be to give a good review, but it does make you look favorably on whomever gave it to you. It happens in all forms of business. Hell, it even happens in government. I'm sure you've heard of lobbyists.

It sure is scummy. From both sides. Having a random "customer" (usually a paid actor) shill something on TV doesn't hold nearly the weight as having someone from a reputable journalist site do so. The latter gets us crap like the Kane and Lynch debacle. For the record, I don't approve of using customer testimonials to bash their competitors either. If your product or service can't stand on its own merits, it sucks. Using lobbyists is also a bad example as they are widely considered to be harmful to the general public.

I stopped using Blockbuster years ago after they A) Tried to make it mandatory that all accounts be tied to a credit card and SSN and B) Tried on several occasions to charge me late fees for rentals I had returned on time or early.

 

[Frostbite3789]

Bias reporting. This isn't "scummy" at all. It's no different than a company running an ad on TV where they have customers saying product A is better than product B. It happens all the time.

Blockbuster may be going down the shitter, and I may not shed a tear for them when they eventually die, but don't go and get your panties in a bunch because they are trying to capitalize on their competitor being assholes by trying to charge their customers twice as much.

Besides, Escapist employees, don't ever say you haven't been offered as well as accepted gifts, you know, at like a gaming convention. I believe you guys call it swag. It may not explicitly be to give a good review, but it does make you look favorably on whomever gave it to you. It happens in all forms of business. Hell, it even happens in government. I'm sure you've heard of lobbyists.

Someone with...common sense? Oh my god!

Perhaps, but I'm pretty sure they don't give you the 'swag' under the condition that you publicly say you'd rather play their game rather than anyone else's.

What's selling ad space then? You know, something that's on this site. It's taking money from one company to advertise their product. The Blockbuster thing said nothing about a review. It was basically wanting an advertisement in exchange for a free subscription instead of cash. Which is fine, because it's Twitter, not the dude's legit site. They weren't asking him to post something on Giant Bomb.

Try to explain away a difference. Go ahead.

Edit: Holy shit guys, after reading more responses, it's absolutely disgusting how much spin an author puts on a story can make everyone think a company is doing something scummy. Without all the editorial bullsh in the article by the author, this looks like nothing more than a paid advertisement, something you see all over the net.

Saying it's a bribe is conjecture and is about perspective. If you want to view it as a bribe, you'll view it as a bribe. Do you absolutely lose your mind every time you see a commercial on TV or an ad in the newspaper or online? No? This isn't different.

Well it is scummy even if it does happen all the time. As if we all love lobbyists.

It's only scummy because you were told it is.

 

[Unhappy Crow]

You might as well add to the tweet "I'm leaving Gamfly. #GoodbyeGamefly" since it's already doing a better job at game rentals than Blockbuster. I'm surprised the Blockbuster in Eastern Market is still there. I stopped going there after not being able to rent a movie due to my mom's card (she had to be with me since it was hers). Wish I knew that, but that was when Hollywood Video was close to our home and had a better selection than Blockbuster.

 

[Callate]

Trying to bribe journalists. Classy. And oh-so of the times. Press manipulation of either the threatening or the bribing/cajoling type seems to be one of the rising trends of the twenty-first century.

I would threaten to leave Blockbuster, but I haven't given them business in ages, so it would be a completely empty threat. Let's just say I'm not giving them any more business until the inevitable liquidation sale of their remaining stores.

Goodbye, Blockbuster. And in the immortal words of Bugs Bunny, "And don't think it hasn't been a little slice of heaven...! 'Cuz it hasn't."