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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Topic: Boston Globe article on pre-movie ads
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Richard C. Wolfe
Master Film Handler
Posts: 250
From: Northampton, PA, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 02-25-2005 12:38 AM
While I admit that I dislike screen ads of any nature, and will never have them on my screen, I actually like the fact that all the other theatres in my area run them. It's another reason why I do as well as I do. I may be subrun, and I may be a single screen, and in a small town, but I still make a comfortable living off my theatre. There are many reasons why my theatre is successful, and most others like mine are not.
You can't point to just one reason for it's success. It takes giving attention to many little details to attract a large enough audience in this day and age to cover expenses without video games or screen ads, but it can be done with proper showmanship. The fact that most modern multi-plexes brush off those details of showmanship as old fashioned or just unnecessary just makes it all that easier for those of us that still use them.
However, what really surprises me about screen ads is that business' are suckered into buying them. They have to be one of the most expensive ad buys for the amount of viewers that they actually recieve. If they knew how few people were in those auditoriums for a large part of the showings, I think that they would have 2nd thoughts about using them. The only advertisers that probably benefit from them are the eating establishments that are near the theare and are open after showtimes.
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Mark J. Marshall
Film God
Posts: 3188
From: New Castle, DE, USA
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 02-25-2005 09:20 AM
We get complaints about the pre-show ads a couple times a month. Sometimes, the customers are quite animated about it - and not in a good way.
I don't know what's worse. The corporate offices thinking the ads are good and entertaining, or the fact that they believe the customers really are entertained by them.
Someone go ahead and quote me the figure: "AMC makes umpteen gazillion dollars a year because of the revenue generated by those ads." To that I say "It's a shame when THAT is more important than NOT irritating your customer base."
What's really sad to me is that I know that whenever they talk about this in the corporate offices, inevitably someone will take the position that "everyone is doing it" and "where will the customers go? They can't escape the ads because everyone is doing it."
Someone needs to try this: Have an "Ad Free Day" every week. Make it Tuesdays. On Tuesdays, there will be no ads. No pre show countdowns, no movie tunes, no slides, no commercials, just a totally black screen, and maybe play some John Williams or Danny Elfman score music or something like that. Make sure you advertise it in the papers and get the word out to your customer base. Do that for one quarter and see what happens to your attendance. This needs to be done at a theater where the attendance isn't really all that great anyway, and there's lots of competition in the area - sorta like my theater! Do it over the spring where there isn't ever a lot of really good product either.
That would be an outstanding experiment. Someone try that and report back to us.
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Carl Martin
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1424
From: Oakland, CA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 04-05-2005 03:34 AM
so the local landmarks (or is it a national thing?) just this week started running a combination short film & ad program before all films. the short will be changed once a month, the ad bimonthly (but will still advertise the same product: beer!). this comes after the trailers, directly before the feature.
so far, lots of people have been poking their heads out to make sure they're in the right auditorium. over time, people will probably get used to the idea and instead become disgusted at seeing the same short every time they see a movie that month. the ad itself, which, while being video-y, is far less offensive than most movie theater ads, has also generated complaints. when i saw a film tonight at another theater, the ad was roundly hissed and booed, a reaction normally reserved for when a trailer repeats back-to-back.
and i'll mention in passing that the short was very poorly printed, the soundtrack extending into frames not intended to be seen ("pop", etc.), necessitating blooping the image with opaque tape, before ending abruptly at a splice in the soundtrack negative.
the sooner this program falls by the wayside, the better.
carl
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 04-07-2005 10:31 AM
The increased number of ads and trailers on the front of movies is definitely angering most people. Anyone who says they like it is either lying, or they have some vested interest in the advertising.
The commercials are bad. But then when a show has eight movie trailers on the front of it, all running at least two minutes or more, it grates on people's nerves. The audience will tolerate a few trailers, but you can tell their patience is wearing down as their groans and muttered cursing grows louder with each additional "green band" they see.
quote: Mark J. Marshall
I don't know what's worse. The corporate offices thinking the ads are good and entertaining, or the fact that they believe the customers really are entertained by them.
They don't believe it. It's just corporate spin. Those suits are merely picking up the same techniques in lying that most politicians use. They know they're pissing off people, but they're loading up the commercials anyway since they think viewers have no choice but to watch them. When those ads are playing, you can't pick up a remote control and change the channel or mute it. However, the suits don't realize it can add yet another reason for people to simply avoid the theaters altogether.
quote: Randy Stankey
In the current corporate culture we live under, once revenue is seen it becomes the norm. If that revenue stops coming it is seen as a loss. This is not a problem by itself. It's just psychology. However, it becomes problematic when people use that psychology to justify their own agendas to the detriment of other people. Namely, the customer.
This is the Wall Street mentality. And stock price definitely has something to with this front end loading of commercials. Film distributors have been badly screwing theater chains over bloated print inventories (as many as 8000 prints for one release) and other moves designed to grab a greater share of the box office pie. I think theater chains see these ads as a quick way of replacing some of that revenue, and then some.
Once the economics of those ads gets budgeted in as a "dependable" revenue stream then there won't be anyway to remove the things. To use an analogy, I don't think there's any way how to repeal Bush's tax cuts without making a bad dent in the economy. Too many people have adjusted their budgets to depend on them. Or in others words, regarding these ads, the genie is out of the bottle and out for good.
Ads on DVDs are pissing me off as well. Most will at least allow me to chapter past them or hit the menu button. However, some companies disable those buttons and force you to fast-forward through the ads. That sucks. I can see the day coming quickly where some asshole film company executive decides to disable the fast forward button as well. If I buy a DVD movie that does that, I'll return it to the store and demand a refund.
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Matthew Ballantine-Patton
Film Handler
Posts: 7
From: Denver, CO, USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 04-10-2005 11:29 PM
Pre-show ads pay for theater upgrades. It's that simple. Very little of the ticket price goes to the theater, and with people rebelling against concession prices, the revenue has to come from somewhere. If you want to sit in a theater with big comfy seats, the price you pay is watching pre-show ads, or showing up late. I used to work in an independent theater with no ads, and often people would come to me in a panic, to tell me that nothing was showing in their theater. People are used to seeing these ads, and companies are very happy to pay theater owners to show them. I consider pre-show ads a necessary evil. Of course, I see most of my movies after hours, in tech screenings and such. I only have to see the ads while I'm on the clock.
Also-that indie theater where I used to work is seriously considering a pre-show ad system. I guess Landmark beat them to it, but don't be surprised to see ads at even your local "mom'n'pop" theater. It's just economics.
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