Readers of this blog will be familiar with my affinity for vampire stories, and the fact that in recent months I’ve been particularly partial to Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, although I must admit (I’m sure to Mike Madison’s great relief) that my fascination with the series is waning and I’m trying to expand my “literary” horizons these days.
But true to form, I’ve found more Twilight-related material to blog about. And in terms of merchandising, this kind of takes the cake for me. Not content to simply release the DVD of the second movie, New Moon, the producers and their associated retailers have seen fit to release multiple editions of the DVD with combinations of different content on the discs themselves and the addition of different physical merchandise in different editions. I remember the days when you just bought the DVD or maybe considered holding off a few months and waiting for the director’s cut. Now you can get the Wal-Mart edition with special never-before-seen footage of the third movie, Eclipse (an exclusive to Wal Mart), or the Target version that has almost everything that the Wal-Mart version has except for the new footage. Or for those with less comprehensive tastes, one can purchase from Amazon, Borders or Barnes and Noble and get a variety of keepsakes included in the box. Is it just me or is this kind of retailing getting out of hand? Do the movie producers really expect fans will buy multiple versions? Or are they using this to collect market data to see what kind of merchandise sells better to their fan base? (Full range of DVD options described here.)