CAPTIVE AUDIENCES

Originally posted: Aug. 12, 2002

This could be the downfall of cinema. We, the movie-going audiences of America, are captives to corporate greed and Spider-Man isn't going to save us.

You know what I'm talking about. You've seen the ads for Nike, BOD, M&Ms, and Coca-Cola. We all laughed the first time the red M&M popped out of the forgotten Valentine's chocolates box and whimpered "Bathroom!" before collapsing. But after several dozen showings the joke wears thin. So do the rest of the ads.

After paying $7.00 for a ticket and taking out a second mortgage for snacks at the concession stand, the movie-going public is being asked to sit through commercials before the movie begins.

This is not about money. It's about greed. Independent theaters around the country are managing to stay fiscally viable without showing commercials before the movies begin. It's only the big chains that do this.

What's amazing is, for all the grousing I hear among my friends and neighbors about the commercials, few are doing anything about this trend! A quick search produced a few newspaper articles, one Time Magazine piece, a press release from Ralph Nader, and a single petition. Is that the best we can do?

HELL NO! There are plenty of things you can do!

  1. E-mail the theater chain and protest.
  2. Contact your local theater manager and protest.
  3. See movies at theaters that don't show ads (and then tell the other theaters why you are taking their business elsewhere).
  4. And finally... the next time the theater starts to show a commercial, make your opinion heard! Say it with me now! NO ADS! NO COMMERCIALS! NO ADS! NO COMMERCIALS! NO ADS! NO COMMERCIALS! NO ADS! NO COMMERCIALS! NO ADS! NO COMMERCIALS! NO ADS! NO COMMERCIALS! NO ADS! NO COMMERCIALS!

The next time you are in a movie theater and they have the audacity to bombard you with yet another mindless advertisement for some product you don't need, remember that YOU have the power to restore the cinema experience to what it once was. End corporate greed infringing on YOUR entertainment.

If you have creative ways to help end pre-movie commercials, let me know. We're in this fight together.