HATE commercials in the movie theaters?? (1 Viewer)

[Colin-H]

A Q&A with Roger Ebert about this very practice. An excerpt:

 

[Richard Travale]

I generally don't like the commercials but I can live with them since I know without them, ticket prices would be doubled. The thing I hate most is when they are not rendered for the big screen and they are super grainy.

 

[Seth Paxton]

As I've always said about TV commercials, and now movie commercials, they DO NOT SUBSUDIZE the cost. TV is NOT FREE.
Yes, you can buy a set and turn it on with an antenna and see a show. BUT, how much did those Pepsi's cost you last week, or that Budweiser, etc, etc?
Because of the 2 steps removed factor we are led to believe that advertising helps keep us from paying more for what we want. Obviously that's bullshit because the advert money has to come from someplace, and that place is the money those companies make when selling you a product in the first place.
How about this, I pay for the shows and films I want to watch, and the good ones make money and stay around. Then when I go to the store I pay 20 cents less per 12 pack or loaf of bread or toothpaste.
Gee, real capitalism where the product has to sell itself.
My solution would be to "subsudize" doctors/hospitals ONLY with advertising. Make those the only places that adverts are allowed so that we could have "free" health care instead of "free" TV.
Will it happen? Nope. TV is the opiate of the people (to paraphrase Marx). Better to keep us focused in that way than to really do something.
Whew. Time to breath, pills kicking in. Hulk no smash.
Er...yes, seeing the same damn commercial (or trailers) every single time I go to the theater makes me nuts. I can barely stand them now and I refuse to buy products from any of the worst offenders (I forgot my Dew )

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Seth Paxton said:

Gee, real capitalism where the product has to sell itself.

Only in dreams my friend.
I'm the farthest thing from a business man, but I at least understand the whole deal and subtlety behind product advertisement.
But seriously, if people are still pissed off at commericials before films, why won't companies just quit? I mean it, I remember the first time they did this practice and people were just . And they're still doing it!!! Like tele-marketing, companies keep insisting on doing it even though people hate it.

 

[Chad R]

I seriously doubt that companies still do tele-marketing and make no money at it. There are people out there who buy something off those phone calls.

They've had commercials in movie theaters for years. They are called trailers--but they usually sell something we want to be sold so we don't mind them. Commercials are no different and they never bug me. It's better than the slide show and I've never been "shooshed" for talking through them. If it keeps the theaters in business I will continue to "put up" with them.

 

[MarcVH]

I don't buy the "keeps the theaters in business" argument. The studios are determined to make sure that theaters get to keep just enough revenue to stay afloat, and anything theaters do to get more money (such as showing ads) will merely result in the studios squeezing them harder.

Conversely, what would happen if theaters stopped showing ads? Studios need theaters, and so they're not going to drive them out of business. Just very close.

 

[MikeFR]

Last time I went to the movies(Two Towers) not only did they play 10 minutes of commercials but one of them was a FRICKEN CELL PHONE COMMERCIAL!

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

All I know is that when I'm sitting in a theater, I could give a good christ about the latest Honda model or what new and wonderful product Pepsi is pushing. I'm tired of being treated like mindless sheep. Maybe someone should clue these advertising idiots into the fact that going to a theater is an escape and that sitting through even one commercial is not acceptable. If the theater owners are crying that they aren't getting enough revenue, then they need better negotiators to get better deals from the studio. It's pretty simple in my eyes-Hollywood continues to set records as far as B.O. returns and theater owners continue to bemoan the losses. Theater owners are getting shafted and maybe it's time for them to boycott studios until a better contract can be struck...but don't play the whimpering dog and say the only way to make money is through advertisements. The more you turn a theater into a television station, the more people are going to figure going to the theater is nothing special.
Bruce

 

[Robert_Z]

I haven't been to the movies in so long, I didn't even know they showed commercials. You all mean they show actual commercials, like on TV??? What a crock.

 

[Jonathan Perregaux]

I predict that one day, studios will release movies direct to home video and bypass the theatrical step entirely... oh, wait.

 

[TheLongshot]

Actually, I do find the "video" commercials behavior in the last couple of films I've seen (at Regal and UA theaters) a lot better than what I'm used to. At least now when the movie is supposed to start, we get the trailers, instead of 3-4 commercials before the trailers. That was really my only annoyance about commercials at the theaters.

Jason

 

[Joseph Young]

Here in the Bay Area, the AMC Theaters are the worst offenders. I'm talking, 10-15 minutes of commercials prior to the trailers. The Century (Syufy) chain has not adopted the commercial strategy. Instead, we get trailers, which is fine.

But back to AMC: we have to listen to 'hot adult contemporary' and so-called 'R&B' pap for anywhere from 5-10 minutes, then another 10-15 minutes of commercials, some of which include:

The Val Kilmer commercial ("Intimidated?") Give me a frickin break.
A nausea inducing 100 mpH ride through a European village.
A commercial for Denny's.

Of course, some people love these commercials. My ex girlfriend (aside from being a huge fan of Jackass) used to pull us into theaters on the way to another auditorium just to catch certain commercials that she thought were cool. I admit that certain ones are very clever. But can somebody give me some hard numbers? How exactly are these commercials benefiting? I f---ing HATE these types of advertisements, but don't mind movie trailers. Convince me that I should embrace what these commercials stand for, that I should suck it up and learn to love what I currently loathe.

Oh, and there still people who actually laugh at both the 'wild fandango' and 'you will let me into the picture' comments at the end of those atrocious Fandango ads.

I knew there was a reason I got into "Home" Theater.

~j

 

[Chris_Morris]

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/...566309099.html
Guess we don't hate them enough

 

[Jeff Gross]

What I find the most insulting is that AMC in Texas bills the commercials as "pre show entertainment"

 

[Kevin Leonard]

Here in the Bay Area, the AMC Theaters are the worst offenders. I'm talking, 10-15 minutes of commercials prior to the trailers. The Century (Syufy) chain has not adopted the commercial strategy. Instead, we get trailers, which is fine.
But back to AMC: we have to listen to 'hot adult contemporary' and so-called 'R&B' pap for anywhere from 5-10 minutes, then another 10-15 minutes of commercials, some of which include:

Precisely why I switched to Century. In Pleasant Hill, Century has a 5-screen arthouse theater in addition to a 16-screen googooplex only a mile away from each other. Great selection and no commercials to speak of.
The nearby AMC was getting worse and worse in regards to commercials (not to mention audiences).

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Kinda funny, since Century was one of the first chains to use slide ads. That company had a bad reputation for a while but seems to have turned around in recent years; I just hope they de-twin the 2 big dome theatres they have here in Sacramento!

 

[Eric Peterson]

This didn't used to bother me, although I have always hated commercials. In general, I always avoid buying product that is heavily advertised. I find it demeaning and insulting to have these products shoved down my throat.
Recently the problem has become worse though and it reached a pinnacle when I went to see "Chicago" about 2 weeks ago. They showed approximately 15 minutes of commercials and ZERO trailers. I was so fumed that I about walked out. Anway, I enjoyed the movie so much that I forgot how pissed off I was and ended up going straight home. If I ever see this again, I will demand to see a manager. I might actually go to their website and see if there is a complaint form. I used that with another theater company after several consecutive miserable film presentations and they sent me five free passes.
I would reccomend that anyone else who is irritated by this to start filling out feedback forms everytime you see a movie. We can all sit and bitch all we want online, but if nobody tells the right person nothing will change.

 

[Jason_Els]

"In this case the cinema actually broke the contract with the audience. I think the compensation for the loss caused by such a delay should be equal to the benefit that the cinema got through screening the adverts."

Oh I like that! Maybe lawyers aren't so bad after all....

 

[Jonathan L]

I don't have a problem with them, as long as they end and the trailers start at the officially listed start time. They just built a Hoyts multiplex out here last year (just in time for Ep.2? ), and I haven't enjoyed going to the theater so much in years. Sure the prices are rediculous (but on par with other theaters), but the place is clean, the people friendly, and the commercials STOP at the listed start time. If anything, I'd prefer they run rediculous commercials and stupid trivia than sit there and stare at a blank screen for 15 minutes or so before the movie starts.

 

[MarcVH]

I don't think people are talking about commercials and trivia that's shown in a continuous loop on the screen in between features instead of a blank screen. They're talking about them lowering the house lights and projecting, instead of a trailer, a full-blown commercial for a Volvo or whatever.

I don't see how they could start these commercials before the adverised start time, because they have the lights off so that new people would have difficulty finding seats and getting situated.