Movie Ads Are Fanta-tastic!
UNIVERSAL REMOTE
Few Protests Over Theater Ads, Say Movie ChainsThank you Fanta! Now I no longer have to talk to my wife before a movie! In fact, you're hideous song is usually played so loud, I can't even think! Bless you!
Despite numerous published commentaries of late about how movie theater ads are driving away patrons, exhibitors maintain that they have received few complaints from the public about them and that many moviegoers actually like them. Pam Blase, a spokeswoman for AMC Entertainment, which operates the country's second-largest movie chain, told the Houston Chronicle that the chain receives one complaint for every 600,000 guests. Terrell Falk of Cinemark USA, the nation's third-largest chain, added that recent research concluded that filmgoers regard ads as "just part of the experience." His remarks were echoed by Jim Kozak, editor-in-chief of In Focus, the magazine of the National Association of Theater Owners. "When [patrons] get there early to get a really good seat, they like to have something to keep them busy, something to do besides talk to the person they came with."
The theory that since no one complains about something, everyone must like it is a load of crap. Clearly we as American citizens are getting more cynical and accepting of these sorts of corporate inconveniences. Can't choose my own doctor? Okay. Can't get that on the side? Whatever you say, my uniformed friend. We know complaining is no use. Now if they asked for a show of hands before ANY MOVIE they would know that their customers are unhappy. That is why less people are going to the movies. (Attendence is down since '02, if not revenue.)
Any moron that justifies movie ads (which are by far the single worst thing to happen to movie-going in my lifetime) deserves to be tied to a bed and force-fed these ads Clockwork Orange-style, complete with eyelid clamps.
posted by Yossarian at 7/19/2005 01:52:00 PM
2 Comments:
Get 'em Serg!
It would be impossible to complain anyway, the way they herd you out through the maze after the movie, to try to ensure you don't sneak in somewhere else.
Besides, if I thought to complain about the commercials AFTER I saw a movie, it's more likely that I should be complaining that I paid $10.50 to see a movie that didn't grab my attention beyond the closing credits.
Want your money back at any show? Here's a trick from a friend of mine who used to manage a theater and knows all the ins and outs of corporate cinemas that may work for you:
If you ever go to a movie after 7 pm, it is corporate policy at all Leow's theaters to deny entrance to people who try to bring a baby into a theater. So just go and complain that some tot was crying his head off and you'll get as many free passes as you want.
Screw them if they don't care about your comfort. Can you tell I'm getting bitter?
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