Nothing is "new and improved" anymore. It's all about the plus.
"Something exciting is happening in March," flowed out an email from CBS All Access, alerting subscribers that the streaming service is being renamed Paramount+. The company seeks to keep pace with Apple TV+, ESPN +, Disney +, BET +, AMC + and others.
Video services didn't start this. The Apple II + came out in 1979 and Crest + toothpaste in 2002, But TV streaming companies now apparently must be branded plus, for fear that consumers perceive their offerings as a minus. Much of this has to do with justifying a monthly charge for television-which used to be free. A more complete name would be "Paramount + a Bill."
Hulu used to have a "plus" service, which was a misnomer since what customers got with it was the absence of ads. "We've had fun with our old friend Plus, the company explained in a 2015 email, "but it's time to move on. We just wanted to let you know that we are retiring the Hulu Plus name. From now on, we will just be known as Hulu. No Plus.
Yet other streaming services have been drawn to the plus, thanks in large part to the success of Disney+, which added 86 million subscribers during its first year. Disney also operates ESPN + and, outside the U. S., Star+.
A funny thing about marketing: A plus is always a plus but a minus is never a minus—even though more products are notable for what they cut down. Budweiser wouldn't call its lower- calorie beer Bud-. There are fat-free potato chips and cookies, but Pringles- or Oreos- is abandoned.
Americans have a fondness for plus-size portions, plus-size clothing and media that have plus signs in their names. Mercifully, the plus thing hasn't yet reached more important aspects of our lives.
