Truck and Barter

Neurotic CD/DVD Packaging?

I recently purchased a CD from Target with a nearly intact case and outer plastic wrapping, but the CD had been removed without breaking the seal. When I returned it to the counter, the associates were NOT surprised. Hence, I understand the commercial need for better theft protection. Some others don't:

But what really struck me is how neurotic Hollywood still is with regard to packaging.... Think about how long it actually takes you to open a CD after you've purchased it. It's hard enough to find a loose piece of plastic on the shrink-wrapped packaging so that you can tear through to the inside of the CD container. But after completing that laborious task... you're still only about a third of the way there. Now you must find a way to remove the clear, plastic sticker from the front cover of the CD - you know, the one that is apparently applied using Super Glue....

The DVD market is beyond obsessed; they're paranoid! As we all know, they use the same hard-core plastic shrink-wrap packaging that the CD industry uses. But loathe to use just one of those Super Glue-based stickers on the spine, they use three of them -- one on the spine, one on the top and one on the bottom of the DVD case. This is ridiculous. It is impossible to cleanly remove all the, apparently, theft-proof packaging and leave the DVD case intact.

What is going on here? Is DVD theft really that bad?

What struck me about that article was not the redundancy of all that plastic, or "Hollywood"'s implicit indifference to consumer experiences, but the path that has led us to such tight packaging, and the paths already leading us away from it.

I don't think I need to demonstrate that multiple small pieces of plastic adhered with super-glue is a low cost front-end solution to theft, although it imposes removal costs on the consumer, and downgrades the overall experience.

But, theft actually is that bad, which seems to justify attempts to seal packages with plastic strips, and ugly, clunky, and intrusive cages for each jewel case:

The current furor surrounding illegal internet downloading has overshadowed the age-old problem of theft from shop floors. Which can be anywhere from 1% to 10% of the stock....

Note that alternative anti-theft technologies do exist:

CD and DVD packs are increasingly being designed with the aim of fending off would-be thieves as well as being lightweight, strong, and with branding opportunities aplenty. At its most basic level, case makers are adding internal lips and extra hub security to make it more difficult for the in-store thief to steal the disc out of the case....

The Red Tag security system from AGI Amaray, producer of the Amaray DVD-Safe case, integrates a disk and case locking mechanism with the possibility of tagging.

The case is locked and the disc secured by inserting a security slider at the retail stage. The disc is locked on the hub and cannot be removed without either destroying the disc or the case. The slider can be removed easily and quickly at the point of sale. Having proved immensely successful in Australia, the system is also being further developed in the UK and continental Europe.

This is just like those tags on clothing that have to be removed at the counter; I look forward to these visually appealing solutions on my local CD and DVD racks.

Posted at September 6, 2004 01:57 PM

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