Now we have to view commercials when we go out to the Movies!

[dessert]

Trombone Al started a thread about commercials in the videos on CNN so I thought I would start this new one.

We went to the movies this weekend and had to sit through at least 15 minutes of actual "commercials" before the movie previews came on.

Now I don't want to grow up and be an old grumpy geezer, but man, I think we have a right to gripe about that!

On a positive note, I can afford to go the movies!

 

[Notmuchlonger]

I find it kinda exciting. Plus it lets me have an excuse for 2 nachos instead of 1 !

 

[freebird5825]

This is yet another reason why I have Netflix.

I'll grump for you.

Some movies have to be seen on the big screen. But most are just fine on my 42" flat screen at home, without the smell of way too many buckets of pocorm making me gag and kids whining and cells phones sounding and... ...oh, did I mention that wonderful Pause button for bathroom breaks?

 

[bbbamI]

It's been so long since I've been to the movies...do theaters still have balconies?

 

[Notmuchlonger]

It's been so long since I've been to the movies...do theaters still have balconies?

Depends on the place. But its a fun date every once in awhile! Specially when a good action flick is out. The sound beats the heck out of my home system.

 

[freebird5825]

It's been so long since I've been to the movies...do theaters still have balconies?

There are actually 2 old fashioned movie theatres with balconies in my area. They play current movies but with a few months delay. We even have a still functioning drive-in, but the sound transmission is pretty lousy. Still a great deal for families.
One of those older movie theatres has a guest organist who will play warmup for some classic monster movies around Halloween. I keep missing the dates because I don't get the local paper.

 

[bbbamI]

Wow...a drive-in! The first date I went on with my hubbers was at a drive-in. The name of the movie was, "Watch Out We're Mad"

I remember the title, but I don't remember the plot...

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

dessert,

You don't get out much, do you?

 

[TromboneAl]

About 15 years ago I went to a movie and they showed commercials at the beginning. I went and got my money back and left.

It doesn't concern me because I don't go out to movies anymore, but here's a web site working against this:

CMPAA | Stop Pre-Movie Commercials! - Theater ads.

Why is this a big deal? I don't really mind the commercials.The issue with TV-commercials played before movies is three fold;

• The audience paid to see the movie, not the commercials. The business model of other media like television, radio and magazines is based on ad revenue; the business model for theaters is based primarily on concessions, and has been for the last 100 or so years. Books, CDs, DVDs and similar media generally do not carry ads because that is not their business model. If you buy a CD, you paid for music, not for advertising.
• The commercials are being played to a truly "captive audience" on an unfair playing field. The majority of people arrive early to a movie to get good seats, and advertisers count on that. The commercials are played on giant screens, in the dark, with full surround sound. There's no mute button, no changing channel, and no leaving for a snack when you know the movie will start in a few minutes.
• It may just be subconscious to many, but these commercials do detract from the escapism of the movie you are there to see. The movie theater is one of the last refuges from the barrage of advertising seen in the outside world. Imagine being subjected to an SUV ad two minutes from the start of a film like Schindler's List. Would that have an effect on your perception of the film?

How is this any different than TV commercials?Television ads are passive. With TV we can change channels or mute commercials. We can't do that with movies. We literally have no choice but to watch or listen. And TV is free. If these commercials become standard practice in the movie industry, the only difference between a television and a movie theater will be the size of the screen, and the admission price.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Personally I don't mind watching commercials at the CNN website as (a) I'm not paying anything to watch the video and (b) CNN is not a not-for-profit. If CNN can't make a profit, guess what happens to those videos you want to watch....

Commercials at the movies is another thing--we've paid for the privilege of being there, and the tickets are not cheap. We never go to movies that we don't already assume will be worth the price of admission. The only advertiser I've noticed consistently is Coca Cola--I wonder if they have a stake in the theaters or the studios. Then there's the product placement that at time is not very subtle.

 

[ziggy29]

I accept that "free" content has advertising to support it. When I pay for the content I'd rather not be subjected to a barrage of commercials, advertising and "stealth" product plugs embedded in the content.

 

[Texas Proud]

Trombone Al started a thread about commercials in the videos on CNN so I thought I would start this new one.

We went to the movies this weekend and had to sit through at least 15 minutes of actual "commercials" before the movie previews came on.

Now I don't want to grow up and be an old grumpy geezer, but man, I think we have a right to gripe about that!

On a positive note, I can afford to go the movies!

As someone said, you must not get out much.... they have had commercials for a LONG time... I even got them when I was in the UK in 1999...

On a side note.... I go to an old theater that only charges $1.50 for late run movies (after their run on the costly screen).... the great thing is that they do NOT play commercials NOR previews... (well, once in awhile there might be one preview)... I remember being in line to buy a ticket and this guy telling his GF they could go get something to eat as the movie would not start for 20 minutes after the time listed.... I told them 'not here'... I think he did not believe me and missed the first 20 minutes...

 

[clifp]

About 15 years ago I went to a movie and they showed commercials at the beginning. I went and got my money back and left.

Anybody remember when the first started showing commercials in movies, I know it has been between 20 and 25 years. Cause I had the same reaction as Al, went to the manager complained (and got my money back) and told the guy and said I wouldn't to go to theaters that showed commercials. It probably was a couple of years before I went to that theater again, but I obviously it was an idle threat.


BTW, Netflix isn't safe I've seen real commercials on Netflix DVDs in addition to the normal sneak previews. The sneak previews are especially annoying because since the movies I rent are often old they are sneak previews for movies I have already seen or know I don't want to see. Sometimes I can't hit the menu button and skip them which is really annoying.

 

[mickeyd]

My movie watching in theatre is limited to Cinemark on Mon/Tue when the cost is $1 for graybeards. I generally catch a show that begins around noon so I smuggle in lunch which generally includes an adult beverage or two. If they want to add a commercial or two before the coming attractions, I'm OK with that as I'm already taking advantage of their hospitality and they have to make money from someplace because it surely is not from me.

 

[dessert]

dessert,

You don't get out much, do you?

OK, you got me pegged! I have to admit that we don't do movies very often. In fact we went to the movies a couple of weeks ago and did not see any commercials and went again this weekend and saw a lot of them. I guess that's why I noticed them so much.

I think it had been years before that since we had been to a movie.
Anyway, I still didn't appreciate the commercials. I can adapt though because in the overall grand scheme of things, that's no big deal.

Man.....I need to get out more......

 

[TromboneAl]

Sometimes I can't hit the menu button and skip them which is really annoying.

You can read more on that here:

User operation prohibition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A video we watched last night, "About a Boy," even had a lengthy bit of main menu graphics that it wouldn't let us skip.

On top of my advertisement phobia, this is especially annoying because I want to control my electronic devices, not have them control me. When I say "go to the menu" or "fast forward," I do not like having the machine give me the electronic equivalent of the finger.

​

My solution is to put the DVD in well before we're ready for the movie, and watch something else or do something else while it does any advertising. Then, instead of choosing "Play Movie" I choose "Select Scene" and select the first scene. In some cases, this lets you skip the FBI warning or rating screen.

You can also copy the video using something like AnyDVD, which will remove all the UOPs, but that's more work than skipping them.

I'd be willing to pay extra for a region-free DVD player that ignores the UOP flag.

 

[TromboneAl]

Sometimes I can't hit the menu button and skip them which is really annoying.

Just found a solution (technique 2 works for me):

How to skip DVD intros « Ash Searle’s Blog

 

[JOHNNIE36]

CMPAA | Stop Pre-Movie Commercials


And TV is free. If these commercials become standard practice in the movie industry, the only difference between a television and a movie theater will be the size of the screen, and the admission price.

TBone/Al: TV is not free. Last time I checked my monthly cable bill from Verizon, it was about $100. Granted, that is a tier two service with ESPN and some others. I guess there might be some "free" TV out there but not as I know it.

 

[deserat]

TAl - ohhhh, I'm with you - if I'm paying for a movie, why should I see commercials - I'm not watching TV! Here in Europe they tell you when the movie actually starts so you can waltz in when the movie starts bypassing all the BS. Oh, and they'll serve adult beverages, too

Thanks also for the info on sailing past the BS on the DVDs, too. You know, as I get older, I get less patient with people/things/situations that demand my time when I'm not interested. My time is getting shorter and I'd rather spend it on those things that I think are of value, not what someone else thinks is of value.

 

[ziggy29]

TBone/Al: TV is not free. Last time I checked my monthly cable bill from Verizon, it was about $100. Granted, that is a tier two service with ESPN and some others. I guess there might be some "free" TV out there but not as I know it.

We've thought about ditching pay TV completely. I threw up a couple of antennas pointed at the Austin stations last year and I get a rock-solid digital and HD picture on all the full power networks from that tower farm (60 miles away). I was blown away how good -- and reliable -- a "free" TV picture can look especially given our distance. Then again, my last real experiences with that were when I was kid until the mid-1970s, before we had cable.

 

[summer2007]

I like your way of thinking Ziggy!

I thought of trying the same thing.

Were you using outdoor rooftop antennas?

Jim

 

[TromboneAl]

I threw up a couple of antennas...

That's quite a trick!

 

[cantlogin]

That's quite a trick!

They are very difficult to digest if they aren't prepared correctly.

 

[LoftyNotions]

I threw up a couple of antennas...

Does that hurt more than passing a Kidney Stone?

 

[Nords]

Here, let me:
[Curmudgeon]

Remember when you'd sit in the theater for 20 minutes before the movie with the lights up, no sound or screen shows, and nothing to look at but the stage curtains and the other patrons? You'd actually have to think of something to chat about with your date. People would even applaud when the lights went down and the curtains opened up to show the big blank screen. It must have given the career advertisers fits to have to live through those agonizing commercial-free (and revenue-free) minutes.

[*] The commercials are being played to a truly "captive audience" on an unfair playing field. The majority of people arrive early to a movie to get good seats, and advertisers count on that.

I walked out of Pearl Highlands a few months ago (Hear that, Pearl Highlands management? Yeah, you guys in Pearl City, Hawaii at the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and Acacia Drive! This discussion board does search-engine optimization and your theater sucks!!) when they started looping a two-minute video ad for "Man vs. Food" at high volume. You would think that the theater management would want to encourage consumption of their products, but if you've ever seen the show then you know what effect it has.

In over seven years of ER, with hypothetically unlimited time to [-]spend money[/-] do whatever we want, we've only gone to one family movie ("School of Rock") and I've only gone to 17 more on my own. For me that works out to one movie every five months and the rate is dropping.

However this house has seen countless Disney titles and Netflix DVDs. There's no reason to go to a theater anymore unless the home subwoofer blows out.

It's a vicious death spiral. Theaters are trying harder and harder to raise revenue, and someday they'll be showing an hour of commercials to an audience of three people. Two of whom will be playing with their cell phones, and the third who'll be talking on theirs.

Either that or you'll be able to vote with your wallet: $8 for the latest flick, or $12 for the latest commercial-free flick.
[/curmudgeon]

But perhaps movie theaters are cheaper than the alternative. I can't wait for a la cart cable TV pricing. About the only reason this house has a cable subscription is for HGTV, which is costing us over $633/year for the privilege. Of course it also equates to less than a penny per minute of viewing time...