Blockbuster Is Hilariously Owning Netflix On Socials
Growing up, there was nothing like going to Blockbuster Video.
I mean, showing up was like being welcomed by St. Peter at the Pearly Gates of Heaven. Walking into that store on a Friday, a few hours after school wrapped up, and your parents were home from work was truly an amazing experience. Like a kid in a candy store for the first time.
Forget family dinners, I believe the stereotypical 'family' setting of America died when Blockbuster closed down. Blockbuster movie nights were the pinnacle of conversation and connectivity... and don't you dare not rewind that movie all the way back to the beginning!
And now, with Netflix becoming public enemy No. 1 after finally coming through with their promise to stop password sharing - much to the disgust of their customers - Blockbuster is having some fun with it.
"A friendly reminder that when you used to rent videos from us, we didn't care who you shared it with... as long as you returned it on time," the once-dominant video chain passively tweeted about Netflix.
A few hours later they followed up with another dig when someone said that Netflix put Blockbuster out of business for the second time.
BLOCKBUSTER MEMORIES BRING ME PURE JOY
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Blockbuster was the premiere destination for families to rent the latest movies and video games. When a major movie dropped it was a full-on rush to make sure to get to the store before all the copies were taken by others. Talk about supply and demand!
However, as cable expanded and video-on-demand soon became everywhere, Blockbuster began closing locations from its peak 9,094 stores that it had in 2004 to closing its final 300 locations in 2014 (although one privately-owned store remains open in Bend, Oregon).
The final straw? Netflix.
However, even the world's largest streaming company is coming under fire, much to the hilarity of its former nemesis, Blockbuster.
NETFLIX UNDER FIRE FOR NEW PASSWORD SHARING RULES
In an attempt to cut down on password sharing as well as loss revenue, Netflix is charging customers an extra $7.99 per month. They will enforce this by using data-location to make sure that if the primary account holder is located in New York City, that their college son in Boston can't use the same account.
Netflix fans are pretty mad and the streaming service may soon find itself in an even bigger mess if users don't purchase the additional accounts and end up losing Netflix entirely.
Across the media landscape, users are becoming increasingly frustrated at the oversaturation of having so many different streaming services that are only going up in price. The once dominant Netflix faces struggles it hasn't before, similar to what Blockbuster had to deal with.
The only difference now?
Netflix comes across as the corporate, greedy suit, while Blockbuster is the new-wave, smart-ass millennial who is much better on social media. With people focusing on nostalgia these days, and wanting in-person experiences, maybe we haven't heard the end of Blockbuster just yet.
Especially, since the Blockbuster website is mysteriously back from the dead...