Ads in front of movies..... (MERGED THREAD) (1 Viewer)

[Steve Y]

I dislike TV-style advertisements before movies. I like advertisements for MOVIES (read: previews) but not for other things, like razors and cars. Those I get enough of in movies themselves. I don't want to pay for the insult of getting double-dipped.

But it's a cash cow, and money is the bottom line, so unless enough people complain, it's not going away. Sure, a few theaters will take the high road, thinking it will attract more moviegoers. But soon no one will care and they'll give in for the quick cash. I'm sorry to say it, but advertisements before movies are here to stay and they're only going to get worse.

It's maddening that most people find them entertaining or just don't care one way or the other.

Pragmatically speaking, I wouldn't mind just closing my eyes during commercials. The situations and actors are stupid, the camerawork is overly frenetic and not made for a large screen (makes me sick to watch) and the sound fidelity is extremely poor. Not to mention so damned LOUD. It's a BAD combination. I now bring earplugs to movies because the advertisements literally hurt my ears. It's an aural assault. You can hear the speakers buzzing and cracking as dimwits dance around on the screen or cars drive to pulsing electronic music or army helicopters fly or dumb guys in striped shirts sit in front of a TV and talk about cola.

A bad state of affairs, my friends.

~s

 

[Gregory Vaughan]

I think that if a theater uses video projected commercials before the movie time (instead of the slide show) and that allows them to not show commercials with the previews, that's a compromise I'm willing to take. The lights are on, people are coming in and out and talking, and it's easier to ignore them if you want.

If they also show commercials with the previews, that's cause for complaint.

 

[JohnMor]

I wish that's how it was at the theaters I go to (or, rather, used to go to.) People just come later and then still go to the concession stand, obviously thinking, well, we have extra time because of the ads and previews. They still come into the auditorium over the beginning of the film. Grrrr.

 

[Brian.L]

Re: Regal's "the Twenty" that has been mentioned earlier a few times. This for me is even worse than the 3 or 4 commercials before the previews, because:

a.) it goes on before the commercials + trailers + movie (that is, the lights in the theater haven't been dimmed yet)
b.) it is noisy as all hell

Part (b) is my real objection. Back when it was just a slide show of local ads and movie trivia, you could (god forbid) talk to the people you came into the theater with before they dimmed the lights. Now you basically have to shout, and even then some people get angry at you (!!) for trying to talk over the Twenty.

Regal Cinemas sucks. First they get rid of Hot Tamales and now this...

 

[Jerome Grate]

Nothing fancy, or hard to think about, too me, "They Suck Royal Ass"

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

Believe it or not, TV-style commercials in theatres are nothing new. They've been around since at least the early '30s...

Screen Ads at the Prelinger Archives

Fascinating stuff.

 

[Todd H]

If I see that stupid Fanta commercial one more time at the theatre...

 

[Johnny Angell]

Oh my god, my eyes, my eyes...no my ears, my ears. It puts me in the mood to kill.

 

[JohnMor]

I've only seen 2 films this year and I already want to torture and maim the perpetrator of that heinous piece of crap.

 

[Jim Dalton]

At home, whenever I see the Fanta commercial or anything with: "HI!! BILLY MAYS HERE FOR..." I can't grab the remote fast enough.

If I go to a theater and see that damn Fanta commercial, I'm getting up and demanding my money back. Enough is enough.

 

[Sam Favate]

I don't mean to upset anyone, but there is now a sequel to last year's Fanta commercial that is showing in theaters. Yes, it is just as annoying as the first.