Like that cockroach that keeps coming back no matter how many times you think you’ve been killed, you can’t keep Blockbuster Video down. That appears to be the message of a pair of cryptic teasers for the video rental store’s first TV commercial in a decade. Now, this is a bit like what happened in 2020, when the franchise got its first exclusive rental since 2011 (which at the time was the documentary The last bomb), but it remains a landmark for the only remaining Blockbuster store in Bend, Oregon, which gained notoriety as a result of this documentary.
In a pair of social media teasers, both dated February 12, 2023, cockroaches and a Blockbuster are placed in the same spot — once, with the Video Blockbuster posing alone in an animated landscape with a giant stylized cockroach above him, and another showing an employee He writes on Blockbuster’s DOS-based point-of-sale system as a CG cockroach makes its way along the counter.
You can see them below.
This does not appear to be a global Blockbuster initiative, at least at first glance. The Blockbuster brand is owned by Dish Network, and the official social media accounts of the Blockbuster brand have not shared these teasers. However, the @Blockbuster Twitter account, which went silent for years before briefly resurfacing in 2020 and going dormant again, has occasionally tweeted and made funny responses to other brands… so it’s possible that Bend Blockbuster is taking advantage of, or driving However, a broader PR campaign by Dish is not yet clear.
Blockbuster has been a household name for decades, with thousands of stores across the country at one point. Now, it’s come down to one — after years of many franchise stores hanging by a long thread after Blockbuster closed its stores in 2014. Store Bend, subject of the documentary The last bombIt also trades on its status as the last vestige of an iconic American brand by selling branded merchandise for what has effectively become a tourist destination.
The documentary itself, crowdfunded on Kickstarter, debuted in a local theater during the pandemic, and then became a viral hit when it came to (ironically) Netflix. A VHS version of the film is currently available on Lunchmeat VHS, and the Blockbuster Bend website is available in more contemporary formats.
In the past year, Netflix has been on Turnouta multi-camera sitcom about a parody version of the World’s Last Blockbuster Video, ran for one season before its cancellation.
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