Jimmy Kimmel was apparently looking to give back to a small business in the Austin area in the wake of the massive SXSW festival, and after thousands of responses he set his sights on Vulcan Video, a store “specializing in foreign, cult, and classic movies.” It still even rents VHS tapes.
The video starts with Kimmel taking a tour of the store and perusing the various sections, from an entire space dedicated to Jerry Lewis to Canadian TV to Asian horror. Eventually Kimmel and the store staff decide they need to hire a “local actor.”
Enter Matthew McConaughey. The first ad takes on the peril of having too many things to stream (thank Netflix for that), ending with the tagline “Don’t be a loser, be a Vulcan Video chooser.”
The second ad is a bit more improvisational and focuses on McConaughey getting great service over a VHS mishap, with a huge focus on the fact that Vulcan has free parking.
Finally, the third ad focuses more on the store’s selection (and its bathroom), and ending with McConaughey confusing Star Trek with Star Wars.
While the ads are humorous, it’s definitely a grim time for video stores in general. The most publicized blow to the industry was when Blockbuster decided to close its last few hundred stores thanks to increased competition from competitors like Netflix.
Things aren’t much better for store-less options like Redbox, which last month announced it was closing up shop in Canada.
However, it’s not all bad news. Wired ran a report in December on how some video stores are bucking the trend and still opening by locating themselves in busy areas and building a community around love of cinema.
