Commercials in Movie Theaters.

[WDWHound]

Can someone tell me when movie theaters decided it was OK to have us pay to watch commercials? I'm not talking movie previews (I like those). I'm talking commercials for cars, candy, soda and anything else you can imagine.

Last weekend we went to see the New James Bond flick. We were subjected to no less than 5 minutes of commercials before the previews! To top it off, many of them were clearly just blown up from video tape, so they were blurry and hard on the eyes. Just great, advertising thats annoying and hard to watch..

I'm sorry, but if I am paying to see a movie, I don't feel I should have to watch commercials. I know its only 5 minutes out of my life, but its annoying.

 

[caitycaity]

when i lived in london in 1998, we were surprised that they showed ads in the theatres. i guess the idea got exported.

 

[Jeff in BigD]

Like the Coke ones, I hate them, almost as much as the Fandango one, you know where the guy tries to act like he knows what it is & hilarity ensues.

 

[Grog]

when i lived in london in 1998, we were surprised that they showed ads in the theatres

When I was a kid living in England in the early 70s they had commercials at the movies then. I'm surprised it took this long to get over here. I guess it doesn't bother me that much since I kind of grew up with it.

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

It's a fairly new thing here and I HATE it!!! It's just tacky. I don't watch commercials at home

 

[Rajah]

I totally agree, Hound. I know they used to show commercials all the time (didn't they?), but I don't like seeing them now. Give me more previews instead. Or, better yet, go to the movie sooner.

Though I do admit the Fandango ones are funny

 

[Jeff in BigD]

I also wish that there were more variety in the trailers they show. It seems like I've seen that Catch Me If You Can trailer more times than I can count.

 

[olena]

I noticed this in France, when I saw a movie. They had a billboard of ads that hung in front of the screen. When the movie started, the board went up and they played 5 commercials....some were for local businesses. Then they stopped and the board came back down and hung there for a few minutes, so we could get a good look at it. Then it went back up and the movie started.....no trailers.

Considering all that, I don't know why theaters here took so long to go for that ad revenue. As it is, the only money they make is from concessions.

 

[shortbun]

We are weird-We like 'em! At our theatre, the commercials
are sometimes funny and interspersed with film trivia. We
are dissapointed if they don't play them. DS like one where
a dry-cleaners shows a guy with his pants off! (He;s 7, what do
you expect!?) Better than a blank screen for 10 minutes!
Oh, well, to each his own.

 

[olena]

I think they're referring to commercials, like you see on TV. The slide-show ads are fine. They're not loud, the lights are on and it's OK to talk during them.