I think tonight I'm going to rant about one of the DVD marketing techniques I've been seeing.
Okay, how many of you are buying Sonic X, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Transformers: Cybertron on DVD? (there might be more series that do this, but these seem to be the worst offenders.) I'm tired of seeing DVDs that "brag" about having OMG! BONUS EPISODES! ...in the order of how they aired on TV. How in the world is this a bonus episode? What's worse, Transformers on DVD doesn't even sound like it starts from the first episode. The description makes it seem like it starts from the second episode on disc.
This marketing technique has to be the most INSULTING thing to the consumers, I've ever seen. Look at many of the other TV shows that get released on DVD, what's the minium amount of episodes on DVD? Three to four. However this mostly applies to anime, since MOST TV series these days are released right into boxsets and not individual DVDs. I'd say, if they want to include bonus episodes, if they included five or six episodes, they could then call it bonus episodes...but even then, if they aired on TV, they're still not bonus. I'd call bonus episodes on DVDs, something that was PRODUCED for the DVD and the DVD only. Not seen anywhere else. (Well, in Sonic X's case, the first volume had the first episode of the "second" season which WOULD make this a bonus episode as it hadn't been seen stateside yet. )
I'm not saying to stop supporting the series that pull this trick on the consumers if you are supporting, just write in and tell the companies that are releasing these discs that you are insulted by this blatent lie to the consumer. Just imagine how you'd feel if they actually published this on the disc?
"Guess what? We really like you. We really do...so guess what we did? We were only SUPPOSED to be putting one episode on the DVD, but since we like you, we really really do, we put three more episodes on there! In the same way they aired on TV! Ah ah! don't look at that anime DVD, sure there's four episodes on it and in order of how they aired, but are any of them BONUS? No! See? we like you! gonna buy it? good! ...Jackass." Well, believe it or not in just those two words, bonus episodes, they are printing that entire statement and chances are, your buying it.
So, get writing and tell those companies to stop insulting you, the consumer, by making the magical bonus episodes into what they always were, regular episodes.
Aoi
