5 New Movie Marketing Tools We're Already Tired Of

2. Location-Dependent Exclusives

This marketing ploy is downright infuriating. Back in the day, if I wanted to watch the special features on a DVD or Blu-Ray, I didn't have to worry about where I bought it or which DVD/Blu-Ray mega-ultra-digital-copy-download pack I picked up at the store. There used to be two options: widescreen or fullscreen. Sometimes a "special edition" box set or "anniversary edition" re-release would arrive, and I totally understand that and accept it. But store-centric releases? That's just nuts. Certain films become associated with certain stores, which in turn means that you need to buy the movie at that store to get the best deal. Man of Steel, for instance, was sponsored by Walmart, so if you wanted the best combo-pack or the Steelbook Blu-Ray, you had to go buy it there. Star Trek Into Darkness was the worst example of this, and the way it was released made absolutely no sense. You could buy the Blu-Ray at one store, but it only came with some of the special features. If you wanted the rest of the special features, you had to go to a different store and buy their version. And on top of that, the only way to listen to the director's commentary was to purchase it on iTunes, and download the commentary as a separate audio track (that you can't easily play with the video). It's like the studio lost all shame, and didn't even try hiding the fact that they were attempting to steal your money and get you to buy six damn versions of the same movie in order to see all the deleted scenes or listen to JJ Abrams geek out about how he filmed all the lens flares.