Theater Chains Sued for Running Too Many Commercials (1 Viewer)

[Kami]

Don't know if I'd enter a lawsuit, but I'll tell ya one thing...when I see an ad in the theater they go on my "do not buy" list, and yes I DO remember.

The longest stretch of ads + trailers I have sat through was 34 minutes (I timed it). Unbelievable. On average I'd say it's 15-20 minutes nowadays :frowning: Ironically, at the local cheap theater (4 buck tickets) they show 1 or 2 trailers and zero ads.

 

[John^Lal]

I'm dying to know what about cell phones makes moviegoing an "improved" experience? When someone gets on a cell phone in a movie I'm in, I'm ready to take his or her head off.

"HI MARC! HEY, YEAH I'M AT THE MOVIES AND ABOUT TO SEE DAREDEVIL!"
This is probably one of the funniest things i've heard when in the movies waiting for a movie to start cause this guy said this at the top of the lungs..half the people in the theater started cracking up.
When my brother would see a movie in mexico, he says that every other movie he would see, someone would just have to use their cell phone in the middle of a movie, just to make themselves feel important. Lucky for us (americans at least) we don't have to worry about the high status a cell phone seems to bring to someone. At least i have never been in a theater where someone started talking on their cell in the middle of a movie

 

[Phil Florian]

You are very lucky. This happens at least once per movie any more. The phone rings and people answer it! And then chat! Sheesh. Yah, movies have changed a lot. With commercials and instant access to phones, I think people feel they are now in their living room. All we need now is a DishPVR like pausing system and away we go. Just pause the movie when someone gets a call and...dang. There was a movie that I wanted to see (Gangs of New York) but my wife didn't and my friends had already gone (bastards! ) so I flexed out half a day during the week to go see it. It was so nice! Quiet but still half full with a bunch of seniors taking advantage of the lower price and stuff. No phone calls. No one bringing their 2 month old baby. It was bliss. Now all I have to do is come late enough to miss the ads (but not the trailers, dang it) and it would be perfect. No more full priced hell for me, baby!


Phil

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The last 6 or 7 times I saw a movie, there was some kid or person or group of people that would talk about the movie.

In Hannibal, it was 2 old people talking about the book.

At Drumline, it was a bunch of kids throwing food at eachother.

At Shanghai Knights, it was some kid who would read all of the subtitles out loud and say "wow, that was cool!" after anything Jackie Chan did.

It's kind of like cell phones, only more comical/annoying.

 

[John Knowles]

I too am unsure whether I like this sort of thing settled with a lawsuit, but it is giving the issue national exposure--certainly one of the goals of the suit. I have suffered through Regal's barrage of TV ads and have refused to patronize them again. There are a few chains here in the Twin Cities that don't (yet?) run TV ads so I don't buy the argument that Regal/Loews has to run them to keep ticket prices where they are. I usually try and see things at independent theaters here when I can. They usually run one or two trailers and just the film....it's quite refreshing after sitting through 30 minutes of Pepsi ads at a chain.

 

[Steve Kuester]

Let me get this straight...

A company decides to run commercials before movies. A group of consumers does not like this practice. Instead of boycotting these theaters or starting a company of their own that does not show commercials (this is America, after all), they decide to sue these theaters.

Pathetic, absolutely pathetic.

 

[EricW]

(this is America, after all)

i thought lawsuits ~were~ the american way

 

[Keith Paynter]

I propose a countersuit by Loews Cineplex (now watch, it'll happen):

re:Movie patrons walking out of movies 5 minutes before the feature is scheduled to finish (ie during the credits)

On behalf of all the best boys, gaffers, grips, caterers, second unit directors, assistants to (star X and star Y), etc., who go unrecognized by people who rudely leave early so as to not acknowledge their participation we demand from each theater patron the sum of $80 in pain and suffering caused...

 

[Phil Florian]

No offense to the folks that don't get the American way, but the most effective way to make change today is in the courts. I hate it, too, but lawsuits are it. I doubt one is going to convince people to stay away from the most recent Adam Sandler movie, telling them to a) wait until the DVD or b) go to Seattle to see it, where they apparently don't have ads. Right. Coffee at McD's have language to tell silly people that it is hot because of the lawsuit. Funny, true, but it also made them change the temperature that their coffee is, as it was hotter than required. Cigarettes are finally targets of nation ire, not because of smoking bans and ads saying "kids, don't smoke." They are conforming to changes because most of the 50 states sued. Fact of life. And as a person who looked into starting a local movie theatre, good luck. Go for it. You have to have loads of cash (and I mean loads, not just equity in your house or a few buds who want to loan you some start up). Sadly, any more, you have to be rich to get rich. The most effective way to change a large corporation's behavior is to sue. If that isn't working, then at least demand an accurate time for the movie to start, not previews. Then show up late and miss it (but realize you get the last seats which sucks for new shows).



Phil

 

[Morgan Jolley]

A company decides to run commercials before movies. A group of consumers does not like this practice. Instead of boycotting these theaters or starting a company of their own that does not show commercials (this is America, after all), they decide to sue these theaters

Not exactly. Movie theaters are advertising movies as starting at time X, when in fact, the commercials and trailers cause the movies to actually start later. Trailers have been around forever, and are considered a good part of the experience, but commercials are an annoyance that delay movies too much. The lawsuit is about false advertising.

 

[BrettB]

The lawsuit is about false advertising.

I've never once in my life seen a theater advertisement which claimed that the "show times" listed represent the actual start time of the film.

 

[Steve Kuester]

Says who? Last time I was at the theater (two towers) people groaned at the start of every trailer after the first couple.

How would you feel if the people who groaned at the trailers decided to sue because the trailers made it so the movie didn't start on time? IMHO, commercials and trailers are both advertisements. This group sues because they don't like commercials (with their "legal" reason being late start times) and then another group sues because the trailers that they are "forced" to sit through do not let the movie start on time. Where does it end?

For the record, the commercials could go away and I wouldn't even shed a tear. But when I do go to the theater (which is becoming ever more infrequent) I understand that commericals are now part of the theater going experience. If I don't want those commercials, I don't go to the theaters that play them.

My only point is that this lawsuit, (like so many others, unfortunately) is ridiculous.

 

[Max Leung]

Trailers used to be appended to the end of the movie. Might as well call them movie previews instead...

It's sad that a lawsuit has to be made to institute any kind of change nowadays. The corporate mentality seems to be: "Let's foist this upon them. Ignore our customer support channels. Listen only when they sue and win."

 

[Morgan Jolley]

How would you feel if the people who groaned at the trailers decided to sue because the trailers made it so the movie didn't start on time? IMHO, commercials and trailers are both advertisements

I agree that they are both advertisements, but one is directly related to movies while another is not. If I go to a movie, seeing trailers for upcoming movies is part of the experience, but the commercials are not. Other than MovieFone.com commercials (which I don't really mind) pretty much all of the ads in theaters are also on TV, so it's not like I wasn't going to see the ad if I didn't see it at the theater.

 

[John^Lal]

lawsuits are not the american way. it's only the american way to those who don't understand what america stands for and reverses meanings

 

[BrettB]

This is exactly correct. However, this must not be misconstrued as evidence that the listed "show time" and the actual time which the presentation of the movie begins are one in the same or that the "show time" is somehow in error. Without the benefit of the knowledge that a person is requesting the actual time at which a movie will start a person will typically recite the "show time".

 

[Carl Johnson]

It varies by theater. I used to work at a movie theater and originally the posted showtimes were the start of trailers but later they changed it to starting previews before the posted time. We got complaints both ways. Early birds were annoyed with sitting thru trailers and commercials while latecomers were complaining about "I know i'm late but what happened to the previews?"

 

[Jesse Skeen]

If you show up late for a movie and ask the box office person if it's started yet, they'll usually tell you there's about X minutes of previews before the actual movie starts. Still doesn't excuse subjecting paying customers to paid ads, but they won't tell you that you've missed the beginning of the movie if you come after the start time.

 

[Benson R]

I don't want to help this thread continue to border on political discussion so I will just say that people abusing the american court system offends me more than sitting through unwanted advertisements.

I also think many people here are exagerating about their experiences. I don't doubt that you can easily watch 25 minutes of stuff before the movie starts but very little of it is commercials. I frequent about 5 different theaters each from a different national chain. The most ads I have ever watched were probably 3 for general products plus 1 for whatever online ticketing company that theater uses. These ads average 30 seconds each so I would say there is about 2 minutes of traditional ads. The rest was trailers and psa's.

This person suing does not want to sit through any amount of advertisements and that includes trailers which I and I am sure many other people here enjoy watching.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

The Two Towers:

_7_ commercials! 2 of which were the EXACT SAME commmercial!
6 trailers

Total time wasted: over 25 minutes past the start time

Star Wars: Episode 2 (no comments about film please)

4 commercials
8 trailers

33 minutes and a near RIOT

I personally would pay an extra dollar for a trailerless, commercialless showing