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See the original image at thehopkinsonreport.com —

Marketing at the Movies: 'From Distraction to Infraction'

thehopkinsonreport.com — Now you ’re getting full-featured commercials and highly produced movie shorts pitching products for minutes on end. And it doesn’t stop with the theaters simply bringing in revenue from outside businesses. They’re in on the game as well...

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  • Haoie, on 07/11/2008, -0/+17Let's all go to the lobby
    Let's all go to the lobby
    Let's all go to the lobby
    To get ourselves some snacks
  • vsujohn2, on 07/11/2008, -0/+32Its seriously ***** that i have to put up with more and more commercials at the movies. It used to be just previews and maybe some other annoying ones, but now I get the same ***** commercials I can see at home. Even worse, the tickets cost more and more each year, yet I see no subsidies in my pocket for the lame ass ads that spam the silver screen.
    • bootie, on 07/11/2008, -0/+9I'm all of 27 years old and when I was in high school tickets were $5 and no ***** 15 minutes of old previews and adds running before the show starts. The movie going experience has been ruined as a whole by greedy movie theaters; They are already making 1000% on each box of popcorn! Watching the decline in the movie experience has saddened me and the only solution I see is to build a bad ass home theater sometime.
  • v4veer, on 07/11/2008, -13/+0i think it's fair marketing..they made us feel more thrilling about all these nowdays, not it's chance to get smth out of that...
    till now it's ok bt shouldn't cross the barrier ..
    • spunkinator, on 07/11/2008, -2/+3ENGLISH *****. DO YOU SPEAK IT?

      Ha, jus' playin'.

      (but seriously, there's a "Check Spelling" button down there that won't shock you if you touch it).
  • withoutamartyr, on 07/11/2008, -0/+18Regal Cinemas has the 'Regal First Look'. It masquerades as a 'first look' at upcoming blockbusters, but is, in effect, a 30 minute long infomercial for TBS and coca cola. I've stopped watching; I spend my time, now, in the lobby rather than subject myself to that.
    • endlessoul, on 07/11/2008, -1/+1Good idea.

      Or, you could just get to the theater at the start time and still catch the trailers.
      • Ahnteis, on 07/11/2008, -0/+2He probably wants a good seat. :)
        Go in, get seat, head to lobby to wait.
      • dogsop, on 07/11/2008, -0/+2And have to sit in the front row?
    • Trav3133, on 07/11/2008, -3/+1its not that bad. you don't need to make a big deal about it.
  • dunnylovehun, on 07/11/2008, -9/+4If you want to look at ***** local ads bring a newspaper. If you want to look at no ads read a book (they don't turn the lights off until the previews start). Go hang out in the lobby and call someone you haven't spoken to in a while. Stop acting like you're being strapped into your seat with your eyes pried open like a clockwork orange. How is your beat marketing and the idea of putting TV ads in front of previews somehow shocking to you? Yeah, they're the same ads you see at home. And you don't feak out about them there. And that's when they're in the middle of the show.
    • cros, on 07/11/2008, -0/+5I think the problem is that there are ads *inside* the movie. Personally, I don't usually pay to watch ads. Ads should be subsidizing the cost of the content yet ticket prices keep going up. Go figure.
    • dogsop, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3Give me the ability to buy an assigned seat and I'll gladly wait until the infomercial is done before I sit down. As long as I have to arrive early to get a good seat I'm stuck watching this crap.
    • marx2k, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3It's pretty hard to read a newspaper/book with the light's turned off and the projector going.
      • marx2k, on 07/12/2008, -0/+1michaelb323: Ahh! You're THAT guy! :D
  • wealer, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3Well said Jim. The podcast was great. And I totally related to how uncomfortable you feel when ushers come around looking for donations... Geez, it's like church for heaven's sake.
    • swizzcheez, on 07/11/2008, -0/+2What? Guess I'm too sheltered and have gone to far fewer movies since they started that crap (and incidentally started making more crap movies at the same time).

      If the theatre (or any organization) actually had the balls to pass around a donation cup, my next move would be to the manager demanding my ticket price back.
  • terminalpariah, on 07/11/2008, -0/+16Just playing Devil's advocate here:
    I *think* (please let me know if I'm wrong) that the movie studios take the lion's share of the ticket price (maybe to the point that some theatres sell seats at a loss). The theatres make the money back on concessions.
    But less people are buying concessions - the skyrocketing price of corn hasn't helped. So they've had to find another revenue stream.
    Also, they're probably greedy *****.
    • technogenius, on 07/11/2008, -1/+1I worked at a movie theatre for several years. The theatres cut of the ticket price when the movie got released was around 25%. The theatres cut increased over the weeks that it was still on a screen grew and grew- so actually less people meant more money
    • bosssmiley, on 07/11/2008, -1/+3Don't you believe it about concessions. What's the percentage mark-up on popcorn compared to its' grain value? Only about 25,000% (yes, that is twenty five thousand)
      • PopcornDave, on 07/11/2008, -0/+6That's right. A 50# bag of popcorn will produce about 800 oz. of popped popcorn. Given that the jumbo popcorn bag at the theater is about 5-6 oz of popcorn, that's going to give you about 130-150 bags out of each 50#. Given that the bag costs you about $25 and the oil to pop that is going to be maybe another $25 at most, you're looking at grossing $600-700 per 50# of popcorn. That's a fantastic profit margin.
      • terminalpariah, on 07/11/2008, -0/+2I guess you'd be the guy to ask, PopcornDave.
    • shoop008, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3The price of corn is not that big a deal. That 4 dollar bucket of popcorn you get may have 10 cents worth of corn. Even if corn price quadrupled they would still be making a huge profit on the popcorn. Right now I can buy a 50lb bag of kernels for $30, I'm sure a movie theater pays a lot less. Its the same for cola products. You pay more for the packaging than you do for the actual syrup in some cases.
    • bnbr, on 07/11/2008, -1/+0You're wrong. The theatres receive a 50% share on the price of every sold ticket.
  • cros, on 07/11/2008, -6/+2This is one of the main reasons I have no problems downloading movies. It could be argued that the chicken comes before the egg here but nevertheless all this advertising really destroys the whole atmosphere of a movie (both before and during the movie). How can they charge $13 to see a crappy movie when they show 25 mins of ads beforehand and a whole bunch during?
    • BinaryFragger, on 07/11/2008, -0/+8If the movie is so crappy, why even bother downloading it and watching it, then?

      People use the same argument with music.
      They say "all music sucks!!" yet they have 80GB of MP3s.
  • alpha94, on 07/11/2008, -1/+6"So why is the message up there not for 5 or 10 seconds, but 30 seconds or more? Why of course… it’s the glowing, pulsating AT&T logo at the bottom.

    Really? That’s where their money is best spent? Do you think anyone, anywhere is signing up for a specific cell phone carrier based on seeing their logo on a Shut Off Your Phone movie promo?`

    He doesn`t get it, the point is it got him talking about it and remembering it after the fact. That`s marketing.
    • Professr, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3We could always move to blipverts...
      • sodade, on 07/11/2008, -0/+3Dugg for Max Headroom reference - that show was way before its time. I need to find a place to download all of those.
  • Tyrghast, on 07/11/2008, -0/+8Cargo shorts/pants: smuggle butt-tons of candy in that you bought at the dollar store.
    • rjc5056, on 07/11/2008, -0/+2Shh! We can't let the theaters know how we do it! We have to keep the wool over their eyes a bit longer, friend.
    • Hoogs, on 07/11/2008, -0/+1I do that every time, buy cheap candy from a stand in the mall right outside the theater and maybe a drink, and tuck them in my inner coat pocket. I've even been known to pop my own popcorn at home and bring that.
      • o0joshua0o, on 07/11/2008, -0/+4Even better, pop your own popcorn IN the theater. All you need is some Jiffy Pop and a lighter.
    • pagno, on 07/11/2008, -0/+1I used to smuggle a pint of Jack in, buy a coke inside. Makes movies much more enjoyable. Remember kids, dont drink and drive.
    • Cheesehead3557, on 07/11/2008, -0/+1Large jacket + pizza.
      Yeah, thats right. I smuggled in an entire pizza for me and friends.
  • seventhc, on 07/11/2008, -0/+14The way I see advertising : If I'm a paying customer, then no ads should be displayed, if it's a free service then advertisements are OK.
  • ageeksgirl08, on 07/11/2008, -1/+2mirror?
  • jsavage58, on 07/11/2008, -1/+6OK, on another note. Can someone tell me why whenever I am watching a program or movie these days, its 10 minutes in and they are still flashing credits? I don't give a 5hit who the executive so and so is, and it's annoying as hell to keep seeing names flash at the bottom of the screen while I am trying to watch the krap they show
  • leerayIG88, on 07/11/2008, -0/+7I like to hide a large amount of snacks in my pockets while I go to the movies. All they hear is the sound of candy wrappers while I walk.
  • lowfalls, on 07/11/2008, -9/+4Stupid businesses, how dare they try and make money.
    • sodade, on 07/11/2008, -0/+1The point is that, if you are trying to make money in a way this is pissing people off, you deserve to get *****.
  • skored, on 07/11/2008, -1/+5looks like the site got smacked. google cache seems to be the only mirror: http://72.14.205.104/search?hs=sUq&hl=en&lr=&c2cof ...
  • mitso6989, on 07/11/2008, -0/+2The solution would normally be that the movie studios need to own the theater if they are taking that much from the ticket price. But with today's business scruples it would probably turn out worse than it is now, somehow.
    • Ryosen, on 07/12/2008, -0/+1Horrible idea. Given all of the nonsense that the MPAA tries to pull in the name of fighting piracy, I can just imagine the metal detectors and pat downs you'd have to go through to get into the theater. It would make the TSA checkpoints seem like a vacation. No thanks. I'd rather pay $5 for a bag of stale popcorn than submit to having them search me for a camcorder via an anal cavity search.
  • WesGusset, on 07/11/2008, -3/+1Hey, the podcast version of this is actually pretty good. I found it on iTunes:
    http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/ ...

    Of course, that assumes that the iTunes server isn't crashing because of the iPhone crush. Bad day for servers I guess.
  • Sirocco, on 07/11/2008, -2/+3Damn, you people still go to movies? The money I've saved from not going to theaters has already paid for my home theater. Plus, cinema -> DVD release times are dropping to practically nothing, so the wait is no longer impractical. Don't want to drive across town to rent? Netflix.
    • marx2k, on 07/11/2008, -0/+1Dont want to wait for Netflix? pirateBay
    • lucas22, on 07/11/2008, -0/+1dont want to wait for piratebay? sleep
    • drbadass, on 07/11/2008, -1/+1enjoy The Dark Knight in six months in your "home theater", by yourself. cheapskate.
      • Zedizdead, on 07/11/2008, -1/+2I will. And I'll enjoy it more.
      • marx2k, on 07/11/2008, -1/+2Thats the price for not listening to kids scream and kick the back of your seat, candy wrappers going through the whole movie, coughing, yelling, dealing with the rubes, sticky floors, superpriced snacks, etc etc
  • Mightbiteyou, on 07/11/2008, -3/+0That is funny, I like money too. Who would have thought I had something in common with a Movie theater owner.
  • leazarus, on 07/11/2008, -2/+2I want you to bend the bullet.
  • HubbertWins, on 07/11/2008, -0/+2Reason #12,005 why people love their home theaters.
  • webgawker, on 07/11/2008, -1/+0All you have to ask yourself is this simple question. If I charged $30 a ticket to show the movie with no advertisement, would you go to my theater? I think I have more complaints about the person sitting next to me that is talking in a loud "whisper" the entire movie.
    • sodade, on 07/11/2008, -0/+4If it really has to be $30 to make a profit, then the business model is ***** dead.
  • asiantoast, on 07/11/2008, -0/+0Is there really a point to going to the movies anymore? it's rare that anything good comes to the theaters these days anyway.

    there is this online shop i love, called brink. good obscure independent films. check it out:

    www.brink.com/shop.php
  • celticelve, on 07/11/2008, -1/+1since the site got hit pretty hard by the digg effect, here is the podcast/audio version of the blog post:

    http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/ ...
  •  

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