If you have recently shopped at a Staples store or a Hudson Newsstand at the airport you may have seen Flexplay’s “No-Return DVD Rentals”. Recently, Flexplay Entertainment began offering time-limited DVDs in airports, convenience stores and travel plazas. Flexplay’s strategy focuses on convenience and targets consumers who rarely rent or purchase DVD’s by reaching those consumers in places they already shop. In a posting on Flexplay’s website, Joe Fuller, Executive Vice President of Marketing explains,
“Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of renting a DVD and returning it unwatched, or paying fees for late or lost discs, or not having any new movies to watch because the old ones were not sent back. Our mission is to provide a more convenient and efficient DVD rental experience that gives the customer complete flexibility.”
Flexplay’s DVDs offer the equivalent of a two-day movie rental without the need to return the DVD after viewing because it simply stops working. The customer is in control of the rental because the DVD is activated by the customer when the sealed package is opened not when the DVD is received. The DVD stops working two days after it is opened due to an adhesive in the DVD that oxidizes when exposed to air making the disc unreadable by a DVD player. For added convenience, the DVD’s can be recycled when they become unplayable and unopened DVD’s are designed to work for one year.
