Dunking over Amazon Netflix’s password rules takes us back to PlayStation vs Xbox One
Buzz News
Netflix rivals are having a field day in the wake of the streaming service’s password crackdown — Amazon Prime Video is coming down hard on Netflix on Twitter.
Twitter account for Prime Video UK answered to one old 2017 post As stated by Netflix that “love is sharing a password” – Prime Video is responding with a screenshot of a user profile that says “Who’s watching?” Everyone who has our password”.
pic.twitter.com/PkFhbOoWNdMay 25, 2023
At the time of writing, the post has close to half a million likes after only a day online, with some disgruntled customers feeling incensed at seeing their selflessly shared passwords now monetised.
That specific Netflix tweet is getting a lot of attention these days, as evidence of a very different approach to password sharing in 2017, when streamers actively encouraged password sharing as a way of spreading interest in the platform. encouraged. Gone are the days indeed – although competing sites like Prime Video still maintain a free-for-all approach.
Brand jabbing at each other in public is nothing new, but it’s always fun to see international corporations behaving like mischievous teenagers. Advertisements have a long tradition of shadowing competitors, as of oldi’m a mac i’m a pc‘ skits that Apple used to put out.
But this one in particular reminds us of 2013, and PlayStation’s response to Xbox’s ill-received E3 conference that introduced a complicated game-sharing system and restrictions on buying or selling used games. With a surprisingly high price point, and speaking of an always-online ecosystem, Xbox created an open target for its rival that the company has yet to fix a decade later.
Sony responded with a brilliantly sassy and low-budget “Official PlayStation Used Game Instructional Video,” which demonstrated in 22 seconds (including graphics at the beginning and end) how PS4 users would share video games.
The PlayStation video is a lesson in just how effective, and memorable, a piece of snarky marketing (snarketing?) can be. However, when Microsoft eventually backtracked on its Xbox One policy, Netflix seemed confident that even angry customers would eventually return.