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Wednesday
11Nov2009

Sony's 'Cloudy' with a Chance of Corporate Stupidity

DateWednesday, November 11, 2009 at 4:40AM
I can't believe Sony is trying this, but if you want to rent Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 30 days early, you can...for $25. That's not entirely accurate. ZDNet says it will really only cost you $24.95, but substantially more if you don't already have a Sony Bravia HDTV set with networking capabilities. Yeah, that's the only way you can take advantage of this incredible offer.

So first, buy a $1000 TV, and second, cave in to your child's every whining want and spring for more than twice as much for a rental than if you just waited a month. Good luck with that, Sony. This one's destined to be a windfall.

I could understand it if this were The Dark Knight or something, but Cloudy didn't do anywhere near that kind of business. Of course, the studio's biggest hit in the US this year has been Paul Blart, so there's not a hell of a lot of choice for this kind of bold and rather silly promotion.

Sony sees this as a win-win for families, though, because this alternative is cheaper than four tickets to the theater. Well, minus the cost of the TV. That could be a good point if the film hadn't already earned 90% or more of its total box office, meaning families have already paid more money to see this, so why would they do it again - even if they have the Bravia TV - just a couple months later?

Again I say: Good luck with that, Sony. This one's destined to be a windfall.

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment3 Comments |

Reader Comments (3)

Yeah I heard Sony tried to do this last year with "Hancock", but I didn't hear if that was a success or not.

Personally I think it's stupid, but...I'm sure there are people who'll fall for this.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterVince

Hahaha, if it is a BIG Bravia TV, you could always charge people a fee to come and watch it.
Don't forget to sell popcorn and soda for exorbitant fees!

Thursday, November 12, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterGrandizer

Wow...just wow....$24.95 to RENT? Er...it's NOT actually cheaper than matinee tickets for a family of 4 in Ireland in a suburban cinema (w/out food obviously) but I don't really resent the 20-30$ equivalent for popcorn etc. on top since the kids love the spectacle of the big screen/day out and so on. Plus, I have heard, allegedly,that one can acquire said item on DVD for like nothing (11$ in HMV) and if one is prepared to sail Pirated waters, for ACTUAL nothing. Why would anyone pay 25 bucks to not even own something? How does one get a highly-paid (no doubt) job as a Sony marketing fk-wit?
Finally, hate to be cruel, but the 3yo and 6yo,while they love the Meatballs book, liked the Coraline and Up films much, much better. The 3yo's exact words after Meatballs were "it was boring except for the one splatty bit" Sorry Sony, hope you survive the splatty bit =(

Thursday, November 12, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterLoki

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