Blockbuster back on the offensive

After the most traumatic year in the chain’s history, rental and entertainment retailer Blockbuster is bursting back into life in the US with its first nationwide advertising campaign since 2007.

In September of this year Blockbuster’s long and drawn out decent into bankruptcy was finally confirmed. The deal it eventually struck with creditors saw its debts slashed from around $1bn to something like $100m.

The UK arm of the business has insisted it has remained solvent throughout.

One of the biggest challenges for Blockbuster for the past few years has been public perception,” chief executive Jim Keyes told the LA Times. This is intended to remind people that we’re still in business and we have a unique offering.”

The exec admits that, as much as anything else, the new campaign is designed simply to remind customers that it’s still in business. The $20m campaign required the approval of both a federal bankruptcy judge and lenders before it could be green-lighted.

Blockbuster still plans on closing between 500 and 800 of its 3,425 US stores with a view to exiting bankruptcy by spring next year.