When the DVD format came out, Hollywood was making hand over fist. In fact, they were experiencing double-digit growth a couple years ago. However, DVD sales are expected to grow only 2 percent this year, perhaps due to online rental sites such as Netflix and Blockbuster. This downward trend is forcing Hollywood to think up ways to keep the DVD format going until the HDDVD and/or BluRay formats become popular.

Apparently they’ve had their marketing gurus locked up in a room somewhere figuring out how to create a second DVD boom. The result of those talks is two words: bubble gum. Yup, Hollywood has decided to put all their eggs in one basket and start packaging bubble gum with their DVDs.

A rep from Hollywood responded to criticisms yesterday saying that “most movie studios have jumped on board this new marketing push as they all fully believe it to be a solid idea that will carry DVD sales through this year and likely through next year as well. Many don’t just buy DVDs, they collect them. As such, by packaging bubble gum with each DVD, studios will recapture the nostalgia of the ‘good old days’ of collecting baseball cards.”

He continued by saying “The gum packaged with the DVDs will all be the same stale gum we’ve all grown to love over the years. We loved it when we unwrapped our package of Topps cards and we hope people love it when they unwrap their box set of The Godfather or the latest Harry Potter.”

While many are still baffled by this marketing maneuver, early trial runs have shown a large and steady increase in DVD sales. It is unknown whether or not used DVDs will come with used gum.

Tags: DVD sales, Hollywood, baseball cards, baseball card gum