Local Blockbuster employees doing their part.

[Cyorg]

Well, sort of...

Everytime someone is renting a blu-ray they ask: "Do you have a blu-ray player, OR A PLAYSTATION 3"

They also have a little sign over the PS3 section of videogame rentals advising that the PS3 also plays blu-rays.

[skubrick]

And if they're renting a SD of a movie when we've got the BD version, I ask if they want it on BD instead. That'll get a conversation going

[WickyWoo]

Everytime someone is renting a blu-ray they ask: "Do you have a blu-ray player, OR A PLAYSTATION 3"

It's to make sure a moron doesn't go home with the wrong disc and come back mad

[buckshot]

Originally Posted by skubrick

And if they're renting a SD of a movie when we've got the BD version, I ask if they want it on BD instead. That'll get a conversation going

if they ask for hd dvd do you punch them in the face? or hit them with a v8?

[jw]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

It's to make sure a moron doesn't go home with the wrong disc and come back mad

You stole the words out of my mouth....

[Cyorg]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

It's to make sure a moron doesn't go home with the wrong disc and come back mad

I know that, but the don't have to add the PS3 in their question. They also didn't need to have the sign up over the videogames letting people know the PS3 also plays Blu-Ray movies.

[tron3]

Originally Posted by buckshot

if they ask for hd dvd do you punch them in the face? or hit them with a v8?

No, they are asked, "How about a nice Hawiian Punch?" "SURE"

[kpkelley]

I rented The Descent just the other day, and they said that 90% of the people who grab a blu-ray disc did so by accident.

[SHayes]

My local BB has two big window signs on each side of the door that reads " The future of HD is here!" overladed the BD logo. Its so sweet. I almost kissed the glass but then I remembered I would like to rent here again someday...

[haushausman]

Originally Posted by SHayes

My local BB has two big window signs on each side of the door that reads " The future of HD is here!" overladed the BD logo. Its so sweet. I almost kissed the glass but then I remembered I would like to rent here again someday...

Yup... snapped some pics of what your talking about and posted in THIS thread.

That's a great message and pretty loud too

[Frumious Boojum]

No surprise that people are picking things up at Blockbuster not aware of what it is. When Apocalypto was released, one Blockbuster made warning signs that the movie wasn't in English and that they wouldn't refund because of personal tastes. Oddly, they've never done it for any other foreign language film...

[powerSURG]

Originally Posted by buckshot

if they ask for hd dvd do you punch them in the face? or hit them with a v8?

hahaha too good.

This is good publicity though

[SHayes]

Yeah sweet pics, the ppl at my local said that there is talk of expanding the bay on the wall to carry more copies of new releases and possibly to sell the old copies like they sell the SDs. Dude I so can't wait.

[monkeytap]

yeah...i have had a similar experience that you all have described. my BB (st paul, MN) has those two future signs on the sides of the door and they always ask if I have a blu ray player

BUT


last time I was there i got into a convo with an employee who questioned the choice of blu ray after i told her i did indeed have a player.

"are they really that much better anyways?" that standard crap

i told her oh yes, huge difference, and that she should start pushing it!

obviously blockbuster isnt having their employees push blu ray, but I wish they were!

[Z-Corp]

You all have it pretty good. My area has three blockbusters and three Hollywood Videos, and only one out of the six, being Hollywood Video, stocks HD formats. New releases are hit and miss on the day of release, and every time you pay they ask if you have a Blu-ray player, which is great publicity for us. For anyone curious, both formats have equal shelf space allocated, but Blu titles are literally stacked two deep and side-by-side, while the red titles don’t have enough titles to fill up the shelves. (No exaggeration) On a final note, when I talk to the employees they always tell me how the Blu titles turn over much more than the red.

[gvortex7]

Originally Posted by Frumious Boojum

No surprise that people are picking things up at Blockbuster not aware of what it is. When Apocalypto was released, one Blockbuster made warning signs that the movie wasn't in English and that they wouldn't refund because of personal tastes. Oddly, they've never done it for any other foreign language film...

Actually, every Blockbuster had clear signs in their Apocalypto sections stating that the movie had a 5.1 Mayan language track.

[gvortex7]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

It's to make sure a moron doesn't go home with the wrong disc and come back mad

That's exactly why they ask because many people have already gone home with Blu-rays thinking they would play in regular DVD players. Same thing was going on at B&M retailers and online retailers as well. Amazon even has a little disclaimer stating that Blu-rays would not play on regular DVD players.

All of this is due to mis/uninformed customers who are not technologically savvy and therefore make mistakes in these situations. I guess, it is up to us to educate the public and create more awareness for Blu-ray as a format.

[tron3]

Originally Posted by gvortex7

That's exactly why they ask because many people have already gone home with Blu-rays thinking they would play in regular DVD players. Same thing was going on at B&M retailers and online retailers as well. Amazon even has a little disclaimer stating that Blu-rays would not play on regular DVD players.

All of this is due to mis/uninformed customers who are not technologically savvy and therefore make mistakes in these situations. I guess, it is up to us to educate the public and create more awareness for Blu-ray as a format.

These are the same people who would come into Radio Shack and ask for a Mini-DV to VHS adaptor.. and SWEAR they saw them before. What they saw was a VHS-C to VHS adaptor. There was NO convincing these people otherwise.

In my attempt to explain to one guy, my Manager in Training told him, "We don't have it, but you find it in China Town (NYC)." Now, I KNOW my MIT knew better so I bit my tongue. "Why you tell him that? It doesn't exist." "He left the store, didn't he?" Lot younger than me but much more saavy in sales. He know when someone was a waste of time.

[TruBlu2]

Go Blockbuster!!!! I rent at BB all the time. Mine has a nice BD selection and many displays.

Get out a rent at Blockbuster!!!

[skubrick]

Originally Posted by Frumious Boojum

No surprise that people are picking things up at Blockbuster not aware of what it is. When Apocalypto was released, one Blockbuster made warning signs that the movie wasn't in English and that they wouldn't refund because of personal tastes. Oddly, they've never done it for any other foreign language film...

Yeah, we get a lot of returns for stuff like this. For some reason studios stopped dubbing foreign films in English.

I wanted to make rolls of stickers for the foreign movies:
"WARNING: You must be literate to view this film"
I'm sure that would either scare them away or confuse them into renting something else