After seeing the $2.7 million dollar Super bowl ad for Toshiba’s HD-DVD format I have to ask - what was the point?

The only significant thing in the ad is the mention of HD-DVD players now starting at $149.99. There is no mention of future titles and no mention of new HD-DVD players. This is what needed to be presented in order for the the viewer to see HD-DVD as a viable way to view high definition movies.

But of course this information was not presented.

However, I think the reasons for this are fairly clear. Now that 80% of the film studios have aligned themselves with Blu-Ray that means a lot of new movies won’t be coming to HD-DVD, hence now new announcements. And the expectation of new hardware is not realistic a one because only Toshiba makes the HD-DVD players (which are then are re-branded and then sold by other manufacturers) and the sales of their players are now dying, therefore the financial investment in creating new players is unsound.

The ad did not seem like anything special at all. It looks like something that would be shown during the average daytime sitcom. Its generally expected for companies who advertise during the Super bowl to present their best and most innovative commercials. Since Toshiba did not do anything special for the Super bowl I’m wondering why the spent all that money.

Another thing to note is that many viewers of the super bowl said that the ad did not even didn’t play in their area.

The half-hearted attempt that Toshiba displayed showed that they are aware that they are fighting a losing battle.

Perhaps its time for the behind the HD-DVD format to acknowledge its loss.

It is not too late for Toshiba to take best interests of the consumer to heart by bowing out, and ending the format war now instead of dragging it out.

The video of Toshiba’s HD-DVD Super bowl Ad is below.

[videosource: YouTube, bandersnatch]