Special edition

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Reefer Madness was issued in a Special "Addiction" as a reference to the cult film's ironic appeal.

The term "special edition" ("deluxe edition" and "collector's edition" are also used) implies a kind of an extraordinary, rare quality. Generally used as a marketing phrase, it is intended to give a product a feel of containing something new and previously unseen; that it is somehow better, unique or more desirable than a "regular" edition. The term is frequently used on DVD movies,records, often when the so-called "special edition" is the only version even available to purchase.

Extensive use of the term and similar ones as buzzwords by the marketing world has considerably diluted their value. Occasionally it is the case, parallel to commercial software programming, that the first releases are found to be sub-par, and that only in the sequential "special editions" have things been put in a satisfactory state. Some view this as a form of planned obsolescence or double-dipping.

Another related term, "limited edition", is a marketing phrase that generally carries a sense of urgency. Items marked thus are often (but not always) released for a shorter time and in lower quantity than the "regular" ones, often with a running number ("13055 of 20000") printed on the products to boost the rarity feel, as the company implies not to manufacture more (occasionally they have been known break the promise). Such versions generally do not offer much in way of actual new material, but are often packaged more complexly and attractively.

Limited editions are now standard in printmaking, which was probably the first field to use it extensively, from the nineteenth century onwards. This is covered in more detail in a special article called edition. There is a genuine need for the concept here, as many traditional printmaking techniques can only produce a limited number of top-quality impressions, as copies of prints are known. This can be as few as ten or twenty for a technique like drypoint, but more commonly would be in the hundreds or thousands. But here as in other fields, the use of the concept has become largely driven by marketing imperatives, and has been misused in parts of the market. In particular, lithographic reproductions of prints, derived from photographs of an original print, which are most unlikely to have any investment value, are often issued in limited editions implying that they will have such value. These need to be distinguished from the original artist's print, carefully produced directly from his work in whatever the printmaking medium is, and printed under his supervision.

Interestingly, some computer game companies have decided to use the term "limited version" to market game demos — that have less levels and limited functionality compared to their full counterparts. While the term is admittedly correct as the content is severely limited, it is likely that this intentionally leads unwary people to draw a false "limited edition" association, to encourage purchase and increase sales.

Collectible (and disposable) popular culture widely employs all these terms in marketing, releasing subsequent, improved versions of movie DVDs, music, and video games. Companies widely use special editions and incremental improvements to sell the same products to consumers multiple times. Some would argue that they purposely leave items out in order to maintain a market in the future.

With the success of DVDs, special editions of movies themselves (instead of just special editions of movie DVDs) have also become fairly common. Sharing similarities with the concept of a director's cut (another long-suffering inflation-by-marketing term), these generally feature additional in-movie material. The material may be footage originally deleted from the final cut, or new digitally-created, interpolated content. Unlike true director's cuts, the directors may not have had part in such projects. (Of course, not even every director's cut is actually what the name implies.)

In terms of musical albums, the term "deluxe edition" refers to a re-release of an album, generally a sufficient period after the initial release, featuring extra content related to the album. This often includes some or all of the following: demo recordings of album tracks; live recordings of album tracks; alternate takes, mixes, or edits of album tracks; B-sides from album singles that did not appear on the album; DVD content, including music videos. These editions are commonly repackaged, with the new content on a second disc and many feature additional liner notes.

Video games have also seen a rise in popularity of issuing special limited editions in recent years, while some add legitimate extra content and other enhancements, some are merely rereleases of games in slightly different packaging.