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Author Topic: Hey, everybody... let's show commercials... TWICE! Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 06-30-2004 10:06 PM                    John, about a month ago, AMC had their Gift Card snipe playing twice on just about every screen in the country equipped with a digital pre-show projector. THAT was a mistake! Take nothing for granted.  |  IP: Logged Mike Spaeth Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1129 From: Marietta, GA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 06-30-2004 11:41 PM                        The only problem with that idea, Mark, is that, I belive, NCN is a wholly owned subsidiary of AMC.  |  IP: Logged Chris Hipp Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1462 From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas) Registered: Jul 2003 posted 06-30-2004 11:46 PM                     There was a problem with an upgrade that was done to the NCN digital preshow a little over a month ago. It was very annoying and we got dozens of customer complaints every round. The complaints ahd to go all the way up the ladder before they finally went back to the old software. Typically if a commercial runs twice it is a mistake. The booth operators dont typically watch the preshow and it is often overlooked by the theater staff. If you inform someone after the show is over they can resolve it. I do agree though, commercials suck at the movies.  |  IP: Logged Nate Lehrke Master Film Handler Posts: 396 From: Denver, CO Registered: Oct 2002 posted 07-01-2004 04:17 AM                     Is this the same with TV adds? I always seem to see the same exact add played back to back. I guess they think I'll remember them more; but since I can't name a specific example, it must not be working.  |  IP: Logged Gunnar Johansson Expert Film Handler Posts: 181 From: Gothenburg, Sweden Registered: Mar 2003 posted 07-01-2004 05:19 AM                        I´ve seen commercials for the same company run twice in Swedish cinemas as well, but not the same ones. There´s ususally a story involved, then you see some other ads and come back to the earlier one to see what´s happened. It really works, and makes people want to watch the whole package so as not to miss one. For instance there was a commercial for a chocolate bar. A guy in a gym working out, trying to impress a girl, and trying to hard. The weightlifting bar pinned him down. THe girl goes to his bag and takes his candy bar. Several commercials later it´s the same gym, at night, the guy´s still pinned and the janitor is eating a candy bar from the guys bag. Showing the same one twice would probably make me remember it but not in a good way. They say that there´s no bad publicity, but in this case I´d go out of my way not to buy stuff from companies that bore me that much...  |  IP: Logged Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 07-01-2004 07:33 AM                    Gunnar, Now THAT would be cool. As cool as a commercial can be, anyway. Mike, I know. I'm only being partially serious with the bill we'd send them. My point is that there should be accountability. If there is a stupid mistake, and it's negatively impacting the presenation or the image of the theater and its staff, the theater managers should have the authority to shut it down until it's fixed. Here's your motivation. No more ad revenue until its fixed. There was a problem several months ago where there was picture and no sound. And they said "You have to run them that way until they're fixed. You don't have the authority to shut them off." They weren't fixed for at least a day - which I think was a Saturday. I'm sorry, but that's bull shit. It's unprofessional to leave it on in a half assed state. We need that authority.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-01-2004 07:53 AM                        It's amazing how easy it is to "accidentally" leave a piece of cardboard sitting between the (DLP?) projector and the port glass.... Seriously, I'm all in favor of upholding stuff like ad contracts, even if we don't like it, but picture-with-no-sound is completely ridiculous (assuming that the program is supposed to have sound in the first place). That's far worse in my mind than having two copies of the same ad in the program. I would definitely find some way to kill that show, as it makes the theatre and the advertisers look stupid, which benefits no one.  |  IP: Logged Eric Hooper Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 532 From: Fort Worth, TX, USA Registered: May 2003 posted 07-01-2004 12:27 PM                     If I had walked into a theatre with a picture and no sound, even if it's the pre-show, I would have immediately walked out and got a refund... That is just plain sloppy, unacceptable, and insulting to customers.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 07-01-2004 12:36 PM                        Whatever happened to "common sense" and "showmanship"? If either picture or sound are out, it's "Dead Air" and the advertiser can demand a make-good, and the audience will perceive the theatre as incompetent. Better to skip/cancel the showing.  |  IP: Logged Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 07-01-2004 01:54 PM                    Decisions that impact showmanship (or the lack of it) are slowly being migrated out of our hands and up to the ivory tower.  |  IP: Logged Steve Scott Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1300 From: Minneapolis, MN Registered: Sep 2000 posted 07-01-2004 02:21 PM                     Richard, I had to run that one just as often each day during its flight. Usually I went back to check sound during the other trailers rather than risk getting it caught in my head. Speaking of booing, the Catwoman teaser has been bringing out the jeers in nearly every weekend evening show we've programed it on. I haven't seen the new two minute trailer yet... not looking forward to it either.  |  IP: Logged Chris Hipp Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1462 From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas) Registered: Jul 2003 posted 07-01-2004 02:36 PM                     quote: Mark J. Marshall There was a problem several months ago where there was picture and no sound. And they said "You have to run them that way until they're fixed. You don't have the authority to shut them off." They weren't fixed for at least a day - which I think was a Saturday. Just unplug the projectors. Most customers don't know that the preshow and the movie are on seperate systems. If it isnt up to your standards then dont run it until it is. Send it all the way up the ladder, that is usually what you have to do anyway.  |  IP: Logged Ethan Harper E-dawggg!!! Posts: 325 From: Plano, TX, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 07-01-2004 02:44 PM                     I say we make a commercial against pre-show commercials. Kind of like those Truth anti-smoking commercials except this would be an anti-pre-show commercial, commercial. I wonder how that would look if it were the last commercial on those pre-show commercials. I think that would rule seeing those on all the AMC pre-shows and if we pay the big bucks, we could get it shown twice!!  |  IP: Logged Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 07-01-2004 02:56 PM                    quote: Chris Hipp Just unplug the projectors. You shouldn't do that because the fan that cools the bulb will shut off too. The way to stop the projector is to kill the power to the little control box on the side which shuts the projector down gracefully, and keeps the cooling fan on. But if you do that, the corporate office knows you did it, and we all get bitched at for messing with the projectors. Nevermind AMC was looking pretty dumb right up till that point. That doesn't concern them I guess. There's more than one way to skin a cat tho.  |  IP: Logged Brian Michael Weidemann Expert cat molester Posts: 944 From: Costa Mesa, CA United States Registered: Feb 2004 posted 07-01-2004 03:02 PM                        If there's any unplugging going on, we get the Big Brother calls from NCN headquarters ... "Hey, #14 isn't on ... oh, and the 2:00pm in #5 started too early!" They know!!! Corporate sponsors cannot be disappointed!  |  IP: Logged

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