The Blockbuster store in Bend, Ore. (Photo by melissamn / Shutterstock)
April 23, 2023
Blockbuster Video’s short-lived attempt to resurrect its disc rental retail legacy in outer space apparently lasted just three minutes. Or about the length of time it took for the April 20 liftoff of SpaceX’s Starship rocket near Brownsville, Tex., to explode over the Gulf of Mexico.
“@Blockbuster We’re exploring putting the first rental store in space. We were going to hitch a ride on a SpaceX flight to start looking at locations, but given how things went this week, we may wait a bit longer.”
While the Blockbuster video store franchise shuttered in 2014, leaving a lone independent store operating in Bend, Ore., the brand lives on as a humorous, tongue-in-cheek social media influencer making fun of itself. @Blockbuster has more than 207,000 followers on Twitter, and the website recently went active with the tagline: “We are working on rewinding your movie,” a homage to the brand’s VHS roots.
The space exploration foray came as a result of @Blockbuster looking to find the funds necessary to obtain the blue checkmark signifying its a verified Twitter account.
@Blockbuster Since we can’t afford to pay for our blue checkmark going forward, we have come up with a few partnership ideas to barter with. DM for more details.
Followed by a direct plea to Twitter owner Elon Musk: @Blockbuster Can you please make an exception for us? Our accounting team left us a long time ago…”
Another recent business proposal included launching a branded crypto currency. “@Blockbuster New business idea: We’re going to come back as a bank and use VHS and DVDs as currency. Time to go visit your mom.”
Through it all, @Blockbuster remains grounded in its legacy.
“As much as we like to make fun of Blockbuster now, there was something kind of nostalgic and charming about it. It was a simpler time, when the biggest decision of your Friday night was whether to rent Die Hard or The Terminator. So, here’s to you, Blockbuster Video.”
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