Objectives

We teamed up with Blockbuster to bring back the nostalgia of the VHS movie rental era and the Blockbuster store itself by making an accessible party game for anyone who has ever seen a movie. 

We kept the rules simple, and recreated an authentic experience by presenting the game in an enlarged clamshell VHS case. Now we just needed to let people know it existed!

Strategy and Execution

We decided that the most emotive way for people to resonate with the game was to recreate an actual Blockbuster store. We made sure to faithfully recreate the look, feel and interactions of walking into one:

• We placed special racks with hundreds of genuine VHS movies from all of the previous decades (some unopened and with leaflets inside from the 90s)
• Installed an original retro computer, complete with an old barcode scanner which we housed on a checkout desk which we assembled. 
• Customized our uniform to look like genuine staff and even wore original name tags used by ex-employees of Blockbuster.
• Stocked overpriced candy and even a 'Quik Drop' box for depositing a cardboard movie postcard that we made.
• GIfted unique Blockbuster tote bags to anyone who purchased the game.

What was also important to us was supporting the last remaining Blockbuster in the world (in Bend, Oregon) by donating free copies of the game for them to sell. We're regularly in touch with Sandi, the store owner, and continuously shout out about such a wonderful establishment still being open on our social media channels and mailing list.

Results

We ended up:

• Being in the top 5 games sold at Target for 2019 selling hundreds of thousands of copies.
• Organically reached 39.5 million people on Facebook alone, with posts being shared over 6500 times and with over 6000 comments.
• Selling out of the game at every event we built the pop up store for.
• Received hundreds of placements online with over 300,000 impressions.

We also had people coming back the next day to show us their original membership or employee cards still living in their wallets, or to tell us how they met their significant other in a store. Social media was flooded with pictures of the booth and people playing the game. We brought back the nostalgia of Blockbuster to millions.

Media