Blockbuster Video showed up where most brands spend tens of millions for attention: The Super Bowl. Only they showed up for free. By creating a hyper-local analog experience and inviting local press to participate, national and even international media, in turn, fueled the speculation, intrigue, and hype that ensued. The last surviving Blockbuster store in the world, a mom and pop operation in Bend, Oregon, made headlines and multiplied sales as it took on the biggest brands in the country…for zero dollars.

Twenty years ago, Blockbuster was a billion-dollar franchise with eighty-four thousand employees and nine thousand retail locations. Today, there's only a single store left. And that last standing, now mom-and-pop owned, Blockbuster store was looking to remind people that they are indeed [still] open for business.

To do so, it would need to get the word out to as many people (for as few dollars) as possible to increase foot traffic, merchandise sales, and rentals.

The objective would be to create an event fit for the Super Bowl stage, yet taking place far from it, that drew intrigue, speculation, and hype from die-hard fans, the general public and the press alike.

Traditionally, only the big brands can spend big bucks to capture millions of eyeballs at the Super Bowl. But in 2023, we proved that the World’s Last Blockbuster store could also go big, by going very small: with one VHS tape. And without spending a single dollar on media.

Blockbuster launched its first commercial in decades during the Super Bowl on a single VHS tape. Content was teased out slowly, amplifying the story on Blockbuster’s social channels to die hard film fanatics, and also on forums throughout Reddit.

Just as speculation and intrigue reached a fever pitch, the film was released–on Super Bowl Sunday. During halftime. On VHS. The film was streamed live and made available for rent the day after.

We live in a time where streaming is king, and cord-cutting is “the” behavior for on-the-go entertainment. We knew we had an opportunity to go big by going hyperlocal with an audience that craves the nostalgia of physical media in an increasingly digital world.

The World’s Last Blockbuster is becoming the Mecca of analog entertainment and is fueling fandom and admiration from people all over the world. Embracing that, we decided to release our commercial in-store, during the Super Bowl, at a game watch party.

In this David and Goliath story, we positioned the last Blockbuster not only as a stalwart of analog media, but also of mainstreet america. And in taking on the biggest brands in the country we proved that one little mom and pop shop could succeed in an increasingly digital and corporate world.

Our work began well before the commercial’s 2.12.23 premier to cut through on the biggest sporting day of the year. And we couldn’t just be early to the conversation.

For the PR rollout, we capitalized on the snowball effect of the organic teaser content. The breadcrumbs leading up to the announcement of the commercial release on VHS helped ramp up incredible pickup across the local, regional, national, and international press. Online speculation about what Blockbuster might say or do run rampant on sites like Instagram, TikTok and Reddit.

Phones at the store were ringing off the hook from media and fans alike and in the week leading up to 2.12.23, Sandi Harding, Store Manager, did live interviews for both local and national broadcasts, including Fox & Friends, one of the most successful programs with over 1.5MM viewers.

Leading up to the event, the conversation around Blockbuster & the World’s Last Store blew up across mainstream media outlets, garnering over 2 Billion Media Impressions in over 100+ placements; all accomplished with $0 spend.

The press coverage ranged from local outlets like The Oregonian and Bend Bulletin to national mass media outlets such as LA Times, CNN, CBS News, Fox, TMZ, Business Insider, and Fortune. Coverage included written, unique placements and live broadcast interviews during prime-time viewership.

We also infiltrated more niche, pop culture fandom outlets like Comic Book, Deadline and Vulture. While released in the US, it gained global popularity with features in Italy, France, Brazil, Germany and Spain. All features were in-depth coverage of the idea and amplified the incredible buzz permeating cultural conversations around various commercials going live around the Super Bowl. The idea broke top-ranked lists of Super Bowl ads.

Business soared as a result of the remarkable widespread coverage. We increased brand awareness and memorability, which led to effective business results. The store had over a 1700% lift in online sales - doubling up on staff to fulfill orders on one of the busiest weeks in the store’s history.

Across earned social channels, 80% of conversations were positive, ripe with commentary around how much the “Blockbuster Era” was missed and longed for. The VHS commercial reached an audience 9X higher than the Super Bowl.

The World’s Last Blockbuster Store is located in Bend, Oregon. The doors are open for business as a result of two main revenue streams; local patrons and fandom tourism from out of state and even out of the US. A proud and constant pillar in the Bend community, the store is a beloved storefront. Many in the community continue to believe in helping keep the best of Blockbuster relevant in 2023 by visiting the store to enjoy the physical experience of renting; a favorite pastime in nearly every American household in the 80’s & 90’s. With the successful tourism arm of the store, it has helped further generate widespread revenue for other businesses in the local economy when people from all over the world and different walks of life come to visit the last remaining Blockbuster store.