Article About the Most Annoying Trend in My Lifetime

One has to wonder why the movie theaters started showing commercials. Prior to this trend starting, movie houses were going bankrupt en masse. Many of you probably know that the first 4 weeks of a film's release, the STUDIO gets 100% of the ticket sales. The theater has to rely solely on concession sales for revenue. They weren't making it as people had stopped buying as much in the way of concessions.

After the first 4 weeks of release, the theater starts to keep a percentage. It is 8 to 12 weeks (depending on the film) after release that the theater gets to keep a substantial percentage of the ticket sale money.

I'd rather sit through the lame commercials than have Edward's shut down. It was a real possibility, as Edward's went bankrupt and was poised to shut down before Regal Entertainment Group bailed it out.

 

the drum roll's mine, dammit! stop using it!

if not commercials, you'd be subjected to those annoying computer animated concession stand items dancing and signing. it's not like this is something new -- they've been using the theater experience (ie the captive audience) to sell things for decades.

of all the problems afflicting the moviegoing experience these days, ads are real low on my list. no assigned seating, incompetent employees, corner-cutting on the sound and picture, the rising costs, the lack of parking and, of course, the dip****s who talk and carry on during the film are all more troublesome, imo.

 

The studios have a long standing history of not working anything out with anybody. They dictate the terms and if all the theaters said they weren't going to show movies anymore...the studios would just build their own and keep all the money.

The studio has all the bargaining power in that relationship.

 

not really. theater owners still hold the cards because of scheduling. the studios want their films on more screens, in the bigger auditoriums and scheduled to run as many times per day as humanly possible. each of those things greatly impact the film's revenue. and the theater owners, not the studios, control those elements.

 

But as to the division of money? No...the studio holds all the cards there. If the theater companies had any real bargaining power there, you wouldn't have seen theaters going under while the studio took all the revenues for the first 4 weeks of release.

It just wouldn't work that way in a true arm's length transaction.

 

This same subject came up on a movie site that I frequent. One of the members is a projectionist at a major chain (in another state). Here is his take on commercials:

Ok, time for me to chime in.

Considering I work at a major theatre, I am going to omit its name while I tell you how we do things there.

By the way, I was offered a position of manager yesterday. I turned it down. School takes priority.

As a projectionist it is my job to put those ads in front of the films. The longest chunk of ads we have ever had was six minutes long. Every two weeks or so we get a new package of ads and have a few days to put them in. The six minute chunk for the most part was a three minute omnibus of ads on one reel that had an advertisement for: Volvo, Crest, some video game, something else, and another video game. This was about a month and a half ago. Usually we only play three minutes of ads. Disney has a rule that we cannot place ads in front of their films. The only one we can put is a PSA.

Coperate policy is that we start the movies at a time so that the previews start at exactly showtime. Which means, for example, we right now start our films three to four minutes early. The house lights stay at full. This way the ads are not technically part of the show. Once the previews start, the lights go half down. Full down for the film.

If you want to complain about it, talking to a manager will do next to nothing. I would suggest writing to corperate or to the company that was advertised. I think most managers will, even if they sympathise (like most of us do), ignore the complaint because it is futile, or would have no way of really conveying it to upper management. Throwing stuff at me in the booth will do nothing seeing as I am tucked safe behind sound-proof, locked-from-the-inside, windows. All that will do is mess up the glass the film is projecting through.

As for the caring ads, those are PSAs provided by the Foundation for a Better Life, formerly the Society for Jesus, or something like that. We all think they are silly, too. The current one is downright racist. ("Excuse me white, stuck-up yuppy. I may be black and hang out with black folks on the street, but while you were walking by us on your way to the lunch stand outside your coperate tower, you dropped a $20 bill. And now with my perfect yuppy enunciation I am turring the tables and returning it to you.")

As for the Coke ad with the usher saving the day, we all hate that film with no abandon. It is a terrible representation of doormen. Wearing a monkey suit (with jeans!), he has no enthusiasm or care. Rips tickets horribly, and when he is assaulted does nothing. I would kick the guy out.

As for the Fandango ad, we have had the same one in front of our films for six months now. We call it "buddha". After six months they are starting to look a little frayed.

As for prices, here I think we have the cheapest prices in the country. Matinee, $4.50. (First showing on a weekday, $3.75.) After 6:00pm, $7.50. Student/Senior, $5.50.

As for trying to sell stuff all the time, yeah, that is the sad trend. We do upselling in the concessions. Instead of, "Would you like fries with that?" it's, "For only a dollar more you can get the large, and it is refillable." It's called upselling, and I am glad I do not do concessions. Meanwhile there is the Per Cap. Which is how much concessions are being sold per customer. The goal is around $2.


I do not like ads, but if we were to have them, I would like them specifically make for theatre presentation. Ads we can see on TV makes us feel cheated. And video games look awfull on a two story tall screen.

And just remember, the average American will spend one full year of their life watching advertisements. That's. . . depressing.

 

yes they do, though i don't think the cut is as drastic as you described. but, quibble aside, you were dead on, in regards to who's making money where. the theaters make their money at the concession stand.

it's a symbiotic relationship -- they need each other.

 

HA! Nobody can come close to Cinemark Movies 12 at Mall of the Mainland...2 bucks for a matinee and 4 bucks for a night show...

 

Damn....I should go after work....I could damn near walk there.

 

"...It's the Circle of Life..."

 

Yeah, that one is completely r****ded. Same thing with that one with David Chappelle as a cop and the bottles of coke in a bucket. Frikken r****ded.

 

When you go to a movie theater you expect to see adverstisements for upcoming movies. You don't go to a car dealership and see advertisements for M&M's do you?

 

My fave was the Coke one where the guy is trying to get into the stadium without a ticket. I like the Fandango Buddah one too.

 

don't you? every car dealership i've ever been to has had a vending machine that's sold m&m's. guess what? that's advertising.

car dealerships also offer cokes in vending machines with giant bottles of coca-cola plastered all over them, otis spunkmeyer cookies, starbucks coffee, eddie bauer versions of this and/or sony brand versions of that for your brand new car -- and all of it, i'm afraid, is advertising.

don't split hairs -- you're pre-programmed to see commercials prior to movies; there's no difference in watching a trailer for a movie and an ad for a beverage -- you're still being fed a commercial with hopes you'll purchase the product. that point will become crystal clear this sunday when consumer goods commercials share time during the super bowl with... drumroll, please... movie trailers. it's all the same: a product someone is trying to sell you.

 

So I guess if the Rockets announce their next home game at the arena its the same as if they ran an add for Chrysler???

And those emblems on the jerseys -- interchangeable with the McDonalds M.

Trailers are part of the movie experience. Adds for luggage are not.