Okay Geek Farm
Netflix hires actors for crowd - Canadian selection isn't that great
Brandon Davenport
There wasn’t a struggle to draw a crowd on the spur of the moment at Netflix’s Canadian press event — because they hired actors. Yes, Netflix hired actors to “play types” and handed out scripts, asking them to “behave as members of the public” who just “happen upon a street event for Netflix and stop by to check it out” during the event. The funny part is, they thought no-one would notice. Some of the actors even got up and asked questions to the press and passed as regular people. Steve Swasey, the company’s VP of corporate communications, claimed that he was “unaware” that scripts were handed out to the actors, and that “some people got carried away and it’s embarrassing to Netflix.”
Also, the selection sucks according to users
My Dad called me on the phone a few minutes ago in the middle of writing this and told me he had signed up for the service (as I and my family live in Ontario Canada). He went on the mention that he wanted to search for some movies he liked, and all he found was “crappy B-list, C-list movies you could see on TV”, and that any of the movies he searched for (The Bourne Identity series was mentioned) came up with a “not available in Canada” message.
“So Netflix arrives in Canada. Singed up for free trial.. installed on Boxee… Does not work! Also, the movies are very limited. Even old good movies like Bourne Identity and others you would expect to be available show as “Not Available”. So… unless Netflix gets their $hit together…. I am exiting the trial.. What a waist of time and major fumble on their part!” — Mark D, via Facebook
After using Netflix for a while, my Dad (Mark D) left the service and closed his account. Also, Bucket in the Engadget comments mentions that “Comparing netflix.ca to instantwatcher.com searches we have access to 120 tv shows while our US counterparts have 2421” — and goes on to mention that Canadians “also don’t have an Instant Queue”.
The Vancouver Sun goes on to mention that “Netflix is definitely worth checking out as a way of catching up on good movies from a few years ago or TV shows you might have missed the first time round”, but users are insisting that the selection is horrible. Here’s hoping that the service will improve, and the selection will grow. If you are using the Canadian service, what kind of selection are you getting?
