Commercials at the movies

[Ash]

I'm really getting tired of these commercials they're putting on before the trailers when you go to the theater.

For example: I went to see T3 and there were FIVE of them!

One Sprite commercial.

Two ads for "Bod" body spray.

One Levi's ad.

And another ad for some woman's product....I can't remember what it was called. (Elegant something...I forget)

As if it isn't bad enough being slammed with thousands of them every week on TV.....it's even worse to have to watch them in the damn movie theater!

I personally feel that I shouldn't have to watch ads especially considering how expensive it can be these days to go to the movies.

The REALLY bad thing is that these commercials sucked!  I wouldn't mind as much if they were at least halfway decent and made me laugh but these were some lame ass ads!

I know that there is a consumer group that is rallying against product ads being shown in movie theaters.

I can't remember what it's called though.

If you know what it is please let me know so I can join it!

I find it personally insulting to be blasted by commercials in a movie theater.



Post Edited (07-02-03 19:19)

[superdude]

I never did see product ads in movie theaters, just the movie trailer ads are the only commercials I see.

I'd hate to see a levis commercial on a huge screen though, that must be really cheesy.

[ErikJ]

In my area it all depends on the movie and how popular it is. The more popular a film is the less ads it will have, the less popular a film is the more. Why? I have no idea but that's just how they do things here.

[Brother Ragnarok]

I can stomach them in those dumbass little slideshows they run before the flicks, but when they take up my trailer-watching time...AAAAAAARRRRRRRGH!

Brother R

[The Burgomaster]

Actually, we held out quite awhile before we had to suffer through commercials at the movies. Many countries outside the U.S. started soing this years ago.

Commercials used to be very common at the drive-ins (mostly, cheap commercials for local businesses like car dealerships and beauty salons). Commercials at indoor theaters are fairly new in this country.

I wonder what's next?

[Neville]

Everytime I go to the movies I have to suffer them. The regular ads are awful, but then sometimes they throw a couple of local ones, and those are really s**tty, amateur-like filmmaking, mediocre cinematography, etc. etc. And you should see the "actors" delivering the dialogue about how good the product is. They shouldn't be completely out of place as "Night of the living dead" extras. Seriously.

[raj]

It's not just the commercials I hate (had to sit through them in Matrix Reloaded & Two Towers) but also trailers that give away the whole movie.  If it is a comedy, don't give away the best jokes, in a drama don't give away the ending-- or make it so damn obvious what's going to happen-- and for action films don't give away the best chase/fight scene.  Tease me, make me want to see the thing, don't make me feel as though I've just seen the two minute version.  

Grumble grumble grumble, wiping foam from his lips.

[Evan3]

I agree Rj, all too often the trailers spoil the movie (The Italian Job, Meet the Parents to name a few.)

Shouldnt the commercials defray the cost of my movie ticket. Geez.

Two commercials I like though are those for Fandango, I think they are funny and once I saw the Britney Spears Pepsi commercial on the big screen. Thank you God.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Ash, the product you are thinking of is Body Fantasies.  I have been subjected to that commercial at my theater everytime I have been this summer except for Beyond Re-Animator.

I hate that damned Body Fantasies commercial.  It has one of those theme songs that are annoying and for no particular reason get stuck in your head.  

So I sit through Finding Nemo, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Matrix Reloaded, etc with that damn song in my head.

Damn you Body Fantasies!
Damn you!

[JohnL]

>I wonder what's next?

Studio logos down in the corner of the picture. :(

Here's a thought; When the commercials start appearing on the screen, get up, walk out, demand your money back and tell the theater owner why. I know it's just a pipe dream, but if enough people did this, the theaters would start losing money and then they'd start refusing the ads.

Of course most people today are sheep, which is why there's so much crap on the TV screen, logos, ads, show titles, squeezed credits...

[Susan]

I used to enjoy going to a movie early just so I could watch trailers, now I avoid it. Because the last time i went and took a notepad and pen with me to document what aired before a film. Half of the time literally was spent on commercials, the remaining time on trailers. The commercials ranged from drink ads, phones, jeans, a social lesson on being patriotic and nice to eachother and yes folks..even a shower head. Not to mention the endless NBC spots and ads for upcoming music albums.

Then come the trailers - while often misleading they are also way too long. They have TOO much of the film in them, so when you actually see the film you feel like you already saw it. Often the best jokes are put in the trailers and tv spots so once you see the film it's not funny. Trailers have ruined a film for me, overexposure. I like to go in with a clear head and no preconceived ideas, much less having been exposed to nearly every scene in the film (which action/sci fi films love to do in a series of flashes that take hundreds of clips from the film and strobe them on the screen towards the end of the trailer).

My theater also upped the price of candy, and downsized the sizes of the boxes and bags. I've taken my own food for years - I feel bad for it since theaters make their profit from the concession stand and they are losing money which is why they keep upping the prices. However, they are losing money *because* they are increasing the prices, people are becoming less likely to buy anything and sneak in their own food. It's self-defeating to keep increasing it. Who wants to pay $4 for a box of milk duds when you can get them for 75 cents at Walgreens?

[BlackAngel]

The movie theaters around my way do both, they have the commercials and the trailers.  I really don't pay attention to the commercials cause, if I did, the theater should charge $5 for the movie itself.  One commercial that annoys me is the one from Movies.com (I think) where this family is acting like like some government operatives going to the movie as if it was Mission Impossible.  Why go through all that? It's a waste.

As for the trailers, I think it's the directors' and producers' way of ("tooting one's horn") reeling the movie viewers to see them.  They have to show them the best scenes.  It's like saying: "If you like thoses scenes, come on, and spend the $9 to see the rest of it.  You'll love it! Guaranteed."  I agree that it should be the other way around show a few scene, but none, or at most, one of the good ones.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bulls**t, I still can't hear you, sound off like you got a pair.

[Neon Noodle]

The only good trailers are the teasers. They show everything so fast, you can't make any real guesses as to what the movie's about. The teaser trailers for Hannibal, T2 and T3, and dare I say it, even the teaser for castaway were pretty good. Short, confusing, but they make you want to see more. Hence the name teaser, methinks.

Now on to the commercials. Last summer, if I had a nickel for every time I saw the full-blown WITCHBLADE ad, I could have retired by August! No wonder Yancy Butler got substance abuse treatment; with that kind of overexposure!

This summer, it was the damn Powerade ads during the matrix reloaded. It seems like it's only been in the last 2 years or so the live commercials have come into play, but it is super-annoying. Every theater I have ever been to shows ads as still-frames before the movie begins, with no sound, and that's the way it should stay, JMHO.

[jmc]

In my neck of the woods, the more popular movies have the most ads--saw a ton before T3, and then a seemingly endless series of trailers.  

It seems like the bigger budget films have the most, especially if it's a movie that caters to a younger audience.

[Ryan]

I feel sorry for you guys. Where I live, in San Mateo, CA we don't have commercials at the movies. Our threaters are all Century theaters which have promised to not show commercials at their theaters. Unless you count the slide show of our downtown businesses owned by families. However. if you are 13 or over, you do have to pay an unfair $9.50 for your ticket. So me and my friends just say we're 12 and stick with the $6.75. Commercials must really stink. Also, what I find really annoying is the way that movies keep starting later and later and later. It gets to a point where you begin to wonder if it will ever begin or if it will just show the best parts of movies yet to come forever. That's all I gotta say.

~Ryan