Netflix Sending Out 10 Mystery Movies in Final Shipment of DVDs
Ubiquitous streaming platform Netflix is not going out of business anytime soon, but it is shuttering its original business model very soon.
In April, the company announced that it would be shuttering DVD.com on Sept. 29.
If you are old enough to recall, roughly 25 years ago and long before it was the world’s largest streaming platform (and frankly, before streaming was even a thing), Netflix was a DVD home delivery service.
That business was spun off as DVD.com and, obviously, began getting phased out as streaming became Netflix’s dominant revenue generator.
According to Insider, Netflix’s earnings report from 2022 revealed that streaming generated $31.5 billion for the company, while its DVD delivery service generated a relatively paltry $145 million.
Given that gaping disparity, it’s not surprising that Netflix is closing down DVD.com.
And with that pending closure comes a fun promotion that the beleaguered streaming platform is running — albeit a promotion with a disappointing and curious twist.
Images began circulating on social media purporting to show an email that lingering DVD delivery customers were receiving.
The email said: “After 25 years of movies in the mail, we’re approaching the end of our final season. We really appreciate that you’re sharing movie nights with us until the last day.
“Let’s have some fun for our finale!”
That “fun” appears to be coming in the form of a mystery stack of one to 10 DVDs, composed of movies on subscribers’ queues and watchlists. The company will randomly select the titles and ship them off to a lucky few who have entered for a chance to participate.
Netflix’s DVD delivery service’s X, formerly known as Twitter, account responded to one of these images, seemingly confirming its veracity and informing customers to get signed up before Aug. 29 to qualify for up to 10 free mystery DVDs.
In case anyone reading this isn’t opted into the marketing emails and wants a shot at getting 1-10 extra discs on the last day… here’s the link! https://t.co/L9l0pomFky
— DVD Netflix (@dvdnetflix) August 17, 2023
You can sign up for this promotion here, but there is one curious twist involved: You still have to return those movies after 30 days.
Despite DVD.com’s pending erasure, any and all movies received as part of this promotion have to be returned by Oct. 29, per Insider.
So yes, instead of sending a parting gift to its most loyal customers, Netflix appears to be just operating business as usual through DVD.com’s expiration date. The mystery DVDs will be sent on Sept. 29 as the final act of the service before it shutters permanently.
For Netflix, this promotion continues a string of controversial decisions.
Most notably, Netflix became a target of quite a bit of scorn when it recently began cracking down on password-sharing this year.
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