Blu-ray ticker

And now, the dumbest new “enhancement” to the format comes courtesy of Universal Studios. The “Blu-ray Ticker”, they call it. A moving, updating text based ad sitting on the top right corner of the main menu, which had been wonderfully unobtrusive so far, enough so that I’ve complimented them on their menu. Easily navigated, looks nice without drawing attention.

Not anymore. Now there’s a streaming ad. It starts with “Congratulations on choosing (movie name here) on Blu-ray!” That’s always a phrasing that’s annoyed me, “choosing” when it comes to products, particularly entertainment. When combined with “Congratulations”, it just becomes patronizing, and yet marketers seem to love that phrase. “Congratulations on choosing (product)”, as if I’ve won a prize by shelling out my money for what I perceived to be the best option. Because this was a contest, not a sale! Has anyone actually reacted positively to “Congratulations on choosing Land-O-Lakes Heavy Whipped Cream” or “Congratulations on choosing AMC Theatres”? I presume not.

But I digress as usual. The ticker is intrusive, flashy, and serves no real purpose. Nobody’s reading the announcements, they’re not reading the ads, they just turn the thing off instantly as  the monument to distaste that it is. And to top it off, if people were actually interested in something they saw, they can’t do anything about it. It’s not an interactive function, it’s a dynamic text scroll. Saw something you wanted to know more about? Would have clicked a link to buy something? Too bad.

It’s annoying, doesn’t reach an audience, and even if it did it wouldn’t WORK.

Way to clutter up the screen for no reason, Universal.