I love when companies solicit the help of fans in a big decision sort of situation. Okay, not that I'm being asked to help save the world or anything. Just assist those that assist he who actually does save the world, each week for 24 weeks straight on FOX.
That man is, of course, Jack Bauer.
And the crew behind the DVD box sets of the show 24 are asking fans to help pick the box design for the fifth season DVD set of the show. The set has not been officially announced yet as the season is still going, but it's likely to be out sometime in August or September if past season set releases are any indication.
They have five potential designs available and the online survey asks you to pick your favorite. When you click submit, they then ask you to rank the other four in order of preference. The next page asks for your contact information (name, birthdate, and e-mail address) as well as asking you to type why you picked the way you did.
I actually picked the first one as my favorite. It's very dark and sparse as this entire season has been and I really dig the minimalist nature of it. The fifth one was my next choice because of the goldtone color they use that fits in nicely with all the promotional pieces that came out to market the fifth season. Plus, I think the spines of both of these choices fit best with seasons 1-4. Number 4 was my number 3 and only because I just really don't like the collage-style covers of options 2 and 3. In all honesty, I really don't like options 2-4 at all. 1 and 5 are the only choices I like.
After you pick the box art you like and give them all that information, they then ask you to pick what kind of storage options you prefer. Traditionally, the 24 sets have been sold in the DigiPak style used on the left. This time around, however, they're considering using the ThinPak style on the right.
In all honesty, I hate Digipaks. They're unwieldy as hell because you keep unfolding them continuously to find the damn disc you want. And, when the set has six DVDs, this can be really cumbersome. The ThinPaks are the really slim DVD snap cases like what is used in Seinfeld DVD sets. They are the same height and width dimensions of a standard DVD case, but half the thickness. I much prefer ThinPaks as you can carry around the individual discs without having to lug around that big mother of a DigiPak.
But I chose the DigiPak. Why?
Because I'm also a big fan of continuity. If my first four DVD sets are DigiPaks, then I want the fifth one to be the same. If they switch to ThinPak for the fifth season, the box will be about 2/3 the thickness of the other sets. I'm slightly OCD, so this would bug the hell out of me. Unless, of course, they offer me the option of swapping out all my original packages for ThinPaks. That would be pretty dang sweet!
And, hey, I forgot to mention... if you complete the survey, you are entered to win seasons 1-4 on DVD and you get an instant $5 savings coupon at the Fox online store. If one of you happens to win, let me know. It'd be cool to think I guided the winner over to the site. Also, since I forgot to pay attention myself, see if you can find out when the actual drawing of winners is slated to occur.
If I win, however, I'm not sure what I'll do as I already own seasons 1-4 on DVD. Trade? Sell? Giveaway? I dunno.
So get over there and complete the survey!
