Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Does AMC Pre-Show video vary by rating?

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Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 11-12-2005, 07:28 AM:

Does AMC change that video by film rating?

They are running a Howard Stern Sirius Radio ad that is totally fine for an adult audience, but is totally out of line for children. Do these videos vary by film rating, or is it one for all and all for one?

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 11-13-2005, 12:10 AM:

Yes they do vary by rating. They follow the same guide lines as they would if they were running the film versions of the ads.

Howard Stern should only be on R rated stuff I believe.

Posted by Brian Michael Weidemann (Member # 2243) on 11-13-2005, 12:48 AM:

The REG 2wenty pre-show exhibits the same behavior.

A couple years back there was an ad for Maxim Magazine brand hair dye, or something, for men. The ad featured, as well as a couple of sharp-dressed men with full heads of luxurious hair, many scantily clad female models who gave longing looks into the camera. I believe they also danced. Provocatively. It ran only on the version of the pre-show aired with R-rated features.

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 11-13-2005, 09:33 PM:

Interestingly, the Howard Stern commercial has gotten applause quite a few times this past weekend.

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 11-14-2005, 07:30 AM:

I agree that it is clever (although I am definitely NOT a Stern fan). I was curious if they were running it on the PG features. It would certainly not be acceptable on CHICKEN LITTLE.

Posted by Cory Isemann (Member # 2517) on 11-14-2005, 08:17 AM:

Most definietly not G or PG. I'm not certain it's even on PG-13, the only time I have seen it is on R-rated features.

(It's not just at AMC now! Don't forget Regal/UA/Edwards etc...) and Cinemark now too I think.

Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 11-14-2005, 08:26 AM:

Yes, Cinemark is part of National CineMedia along with Regal and AMC. They will start using the preshow soon.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 11-14-2005, 05:00 PM:

Dumb question, do these companies not realize the torture they are putting their customers through? I have sat through Regal and AMC's preshow and they're both pretty bad. By the time the actual film previews start, I'm already past the point of wanting the movie to start...but then there's a solid 15 minutes of previews to sit through! Seriously by the time the movie starts, I'm not in the greatest of moods.

It's like watching tv without the programming...just commercial after commercial!!! And you can't leave!!!!! [Eek!]

At least Century theaters and most independents aren't doing this crap. I know it's extra revenue for them, but in my opinion this is the primary reason (other than bad movies) why people are turning to "home theater". You just can't make someone pay top dollar for tickets and concessions and then force them to sit through a half hour of commercials and expect for them to keep coming back.

Posted by Hieu Trung Ngo (Member # 3298) on 11-14-2005, 05:52 PM:

I must agree that those commercials are quite annoying. I work at the AMC Fenway and yes that stern ad only plays on R rated stuff. Chicken Little is disney, so they don't allow commericals of any sort during the preshow....the generic AMC ads just run until the show is supposed to start

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 11-14-2005, 05:54 PM:

Even with as much stumping for advertising companies that I've posted, I've always believed that modern preshow advertising has become increasingly intrusive over the years. Most theaters in Minneapolis with a digital preshow run their programs at a volume loud enough to distract any patrons from engaging in casual conversation about the film.

In addition to the previously mentioned decline in presentation, there's the increasingly asinine quality to the movie trivia & nostalgia in these programs. The Riverview in Minneapolis continues to run one of the best sets of Silver Sceen carousels I've ever seen. We want challenging facts & quotes, not advertising for upcoming junkers with mundane quotes ripped from the trailers!

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 11-14-2005, 07:14 PM:

quote: Brad Miller
Dumb question, do these companies not realize the torture they are putting their customers through?

No they don't. I recently went to see Chicken Little and was dreading the twenty, but lo and behold.... one Sprite ad, one Coke ad (So I guess that makes TWO Coke ads) and that was it! I forgot all about that! Thank you Disney, for forcing theaters into making the experience of seeing your movie that much more enjoyable! [Big Grin]

We need more Disneys. People need to openly thank Disney and petition the other studios to do the same thing. The theater execs are, after all, pushing the studios' customer base away with all of this stupid pre-show crap. If it were me, I'd be pissed. Clearly Mickey Mouse has it figured out though, which is a good sign.

Posted by Jason Miller (Member # 2341) on 11-14-2005, 10:34 PM:

and you think that eventually they wont find a way to advertise on DVDs as well?

and you may add: but I can fast forward through that stuff...

ever notice that sometimes it wont let you. you get a "feature disabled" message. it wont be long.

I have said it before.. advertising is a necessity. live with it.

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 11-14-2005, 11:31 PM:

Maybe I'm going out on a limb, but chances are that Fox, Paramount, and Warner Brothers won't be running Howard Stern, Nissan, Coke, Army, Marines, Nokia, M&Ms, Toyota, Nintendo, Colgate, Hershey's Kisses, or Adidas ads on their DVDs any time soon. Get a grip.

And as far as locking me out of skipping them, that doesn't worry me. Someone will figure out a way (if they haven't already) of ripping the DVD and all of the content onto a dual layer DVD+R with everything intact EXCEPT the ads. Joe will be along any minute to tell me that he's already done that.

Posted by Jason Miller (Member # 2341) on 11-15-2005, 09:30 AM:

wont go out on a limb? why? because they are a company that is interested in making more money?

if Nike offered WB a nice deal to put a shoe commercial on the head of every DVD of Batman Forever 2: electric boogaloo, then I'm sure WB would have NO problem with pocketing such a burden.

and on Joe finding a way.. I agree with you.

but I still maintain that bitching about advertising doesnt make sense. How did you hear about this site? did you find a flyer in a film-can? did someone else tell you? did you google it?

with the exception of Brad (who created the site) and Joe (whose knowledge knows no bounds), some form of advertising brought them here.

although not quite the level of stuff on the pre-shows, no one ever complains about commercials during the superbowl...

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 11-15-2005, 01:14 PM:

You don't have to go to a theater and pay to see the Superbowl.

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 11-15-2005, 01:24 PM:

Also, with the Super Bowl, you can choose NOT to see the commercials by changing the channel or leaving the room. You don't have those options in a crowded theatre.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 11-15-2005, 01:58 PM:

quote: Mark J. Marshall
Someone will figure out a way (if they haven't already) of ripping the DVD and all of the content onto a dual layer DVD+R with everything intact EXCEPT the ads.

They already have, and you don't have to have a dual layer disc either. DVD Shrink...and it's freeware

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 11-15-2005, 02:38 PM:

Nice. [Big Grin]

quote: Jesse Skeen
You don't have to go to a theater and pay to see the Superbowl.

quote: Mark Lensenmayer
Also, with the Super Bowl, you can choose NOT to see the commercials by changing the channel or leaving the room. You don't have those options in a crowded theatre.

Plus Super Bowl commercials are for the most part, entertaining, and have turned into part of the Super Bowl event itself.

Does anyone else have customers that routinely wait outside of an auditorium until the commercials are over before going in? Ask yourself if those are people on the verge of being lost customers.

And by the way, I never said eliminate ALL advertising everywhere. Just that commercials in front of movies are inappropriate. This industry survived for a VERY long time without them.

Posted by Ky Boyd (Member # 23) on 11-16-2005, 10:56 PM:

Was to the AMC in Emeryville, CA twice this week and discovered to my horror the AMC pre-show. Interestingly the second time, on Kiss Kiss Bang Bang the audio was running with no picture...much more enjoyable, if any of these pre-show things can be described as enjoyable. Don't know if its just my local AMC but at least both times the audio on the pre-show was very low and easy to tune out as opposed to Regal where my experience has been that the audio on the pre-show is excessively loud.

Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 11-17-2005, 05:35 AM:

quote: Mark Lensenmayer
Also, with the Super Bowl, you can choose NOT to see the commercials by changing the channel or leaving the room. You don't have those options in a crowded theatre.

Thats exactly why some advertisers like it! They know you pretty much have to watch.

Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 11-17-2005, 05:00 PM:

The AMC show is the worst violator and most intrusive! I will never step foot in any AMC theatre ever again. EVER.

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 11-17-2005, 06:08 PM:

Matt Fields said:

quote: Matt Fields
Thats exactly why some advertisers like it! They know you pretty much have to watch.

Which is also exactly why I spend more of my entertainment dollars on DVD's! I don't think the studios care...they get my money either way. Only the exhibitor loses out.

Posted by Jason Miller (Member # 2341) on 11-17-2005, 11:08 PM:

quote: Mark J. Marshall
And by the way, I never said eliminate ALL advertising everywhere. Just that commercials in front of movies are inappropriate. This industry survived for a VERY long time without them.

AH yes... the days of Mono and if you were lucky.. stereo.

I guess if no one cared about spending money on upgrades and new builds we could just sail along on what we had.

or give up some payroll I guess... but anything as long as we can have that absolute silence before a movie to enjoy the couple making out in front of us. or the guy talking on his cell phone about that weird rash he got. or old people listing off every medicine they take daily.

if its too loud. tell someone about it. I do everything I can to make sure the pre-show isn't blazingly loud.

But its still better than nothing.

quote: Jesse Skeen
You don't have to go to a theater and pay to see the Superbowl.

And you dont Pay to watch the pre-show either. the pre-show is free. that's why the movie costs the same whether it runs or not. it runs before the scheduled start time so that it doesnt intrude into the show length (hopefully.. yeah I know..).

if people want to wait outside for a free show then fine. some people need something to protest about I guess.

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 11-18-2005, 07:58 AM:

quote: Jason Miller
AH yes... the days of Mono and if you were lucky.. stereo.

...and CinemaScope, and Super-Scope, and WarnerScope, TechniScope, Technirama, Cinerama, Aroma-Rama, Smell-O-Vision, Panavision, VistaVision, 70mm, Todd-AO 70mm, Ultra-Panavision 70mm, dual strip 3-D, over/under 3-D, side by side 3-D, Fantasound, Sensurround, 4-tack magnetic sound, 6-track magnetic sound....

Don't tell me that theaters can't afford to upgrade to newer systems or take chances unless they have commercial advertising in front of their movies.

quote: Jason Miller
or give up some payroll I guess

So, payroll should be going UP for the staff then if we use your logic, but sadly, that's not the case. Any projectionist in a multiplex that makes more than $10 an hour is lucky.

quote: Jason Miller
but anything as long as we can have that absolute silence before a movie

While absolute silence beats MovieTunes hands down every time in my book, I'd rather listen to some nice movie-oriented score music playing in the background. I don't even mind the "slides" that run before the show.

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 11-18-2005, 12:52 PM:

quote: Jason Miller
And you dont Pay to watch the pre-show either. the pre-show is free.

OK, so can I come in for free and watch the pre-show, then leave when the movie starts? [Wink]

Posted by William Valdes (Member # 2690) on 11-26-2005, 12:37 PM:

It's 2005 people. The good ol' days are over. It's time to face facts. We live in an age where you can't run and hide from advertising. It's in books, newspapers, television, billboards, products that advertise other products and yes movie theater pre-show advertising. Even if you didn't have the ads that play BEFORE the scheduled start time theres still going to be advertising DURING the show through product placement after product placement. Sure, ads are annoying and nobody wants to sit through them but they're not going away anytime soon so just ignore them or go to another theater that doesn't play them until they inevitably start running pre-show ads. It's progress, you take the good with the bad.

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 11-27-2005, 12:10 AM:

quote: William Valdes
We live in an age where you can't run and hide from advertising.
... go to another theater that doesn't play them

Posted by Jason Miller (Member # 2341) on 11-27-2005, 05:12 AM:

I dont think that the answer is to redirect customers to somewhere else. the key to all of this is to get the income (and there is a LOT of income so the idea wont be going away), while at the same time making it tolerable for the customers.

I dont believe the answer is to axe them completely and I dont think anyone should HAVE to watch 30 minutes of ONLY advertising.

the behind the scenes docs and the cartoon network shorts keep it from being that.

As well as starting it before the advertised time... that adds compromise to the argument of "FORCED to watch".

but this subject just goes back and forth. None of us has any effect on the outcome and we should just realize that.

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 11-27-2005, 10:30 AM:

Again, I will ask the question... *WHERE* does all of this extra income go? It certainly doesn't go back to the theaters. If it did, we should have THX certified equipment and all three digital sound systems WITH EX/ES capability in every house by now. But as it is, we hardly have a budget for maintenance hours on our aging building. So where is the revenue going? Enlighten me.

Posted by Jason Miller (Member # 2341) on 11-27-2005, 06:01 PM:

Most likely new builds and upgrades.

but I'll tell you what, go ahead and send an email to your corp office and let them know they are stupid for putting commercials on movies, and that all the money they are making should go towards whatever you decide is worth it because they obviously cant manage their own business.

I'm sure that will get the ball rolling.

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 11-27-2005, 09:54 PM:

The corporate office reads Film-Tech, so I'm sure they know my position by now. But in case they still don't, here it is: As a staff person, I follow the rules and run the commercials the way they're supposed to run. As a paying customer - I HATE sitting through 2wenty minutes of them, and I personally pay to see movies less and less because of it. [Mad]

Posted by William Valdes (Member # 2690) on 11-30-2005, 12:47 AM:

Mark, My point was that you can't run and hide from advertisements forever. Even if a movie-goer finds a theater that doesn't run ads before a show, it's only a matter of time before they start running ads as well. Pre-show advertising isn't going away, it's becoming more widespread and will reach most every theatre in some form or another. Everywhere you go, whatever you're doing, something or someone is going to try to sell you something. Finding a theatre that still doesn't run pre-show ads will eventually be as common as drive-in movie theaters and even in those few rare places I'm sure you'll still get a whole slideshow of ads.
There are so many bigger problems in this industry that make the 'too many pre-show ads' problem seem negligible. The way I see it, I'd rather have 10 minutes of ads come BEFORE a movie than during like on television. Speaking of television, millions of people all over the country pay a hefty cable bill just so they can have access to hundreds of channels that can't show you ten minutes worth of programming without running 2 minutes worth of ads. Where's the outcry there? My advice to all those whose lives are now made a little bit less enjoyable because of pre-show advertising is this: Just ignore them! OR If you must, cover your ears and stare at the wall until showtime.
(This post is brought to you by Budweiser King Of Beers! [beer]

)

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 11-30-2005, 02:07 AM:

Not much reason to pay to advertise to an empty theater though. And there WAS outcry from ME 23 years ago when I first got to watch MTV and was shocked to see the music videos stop for a video game commercial. That so many people have put up with that proves there are a lot of stupid people in the world.

(This post made possible by voluntary contributions.)

Posted by Anslem Rayburn (Member # 1267) on 11-30-2005, 02:43 AM:

The only people that I have ever heard complain about pre-show advertising are people that work at theaters. I have had people complain that the slides they usually see at our theater weren't playing. It gives them something to look at while they are waiting for their film to start, and beats the hell out of a blank screen. Same goes for music, and we use the dreaded MovieTunes discs. People complain to us when either of these things is missing.

We do run our slides prior to showtime, and refuse to play rolling stock. We limit our trailer programming to 12 minutes (usually less than 10, but 12 once in a while).

If you want to avoid the ads, then you are more than welcome to come at the posted start time rather than early. Nobody is forcing you to watch a single advertisement.

Advertising brings in a hefty chunk of change for us, it basically offsets the cost of us advertising in the local paper (which seems to be very expensive for our market). I don't have an exact figure, but it is a lot of money.

I honestly don't feel that we are alienating our customer base by showing slides between shows. If we were, I would be the first person at our business to address it, like I have many other things over the years.

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 11-30-2005, 11:30 PM:

I think I said that I don't mind the slides. It's the commercials that bother me... or rather the "rolling stock" ads, which you said you refuse to run. To that I say... good for you! [thumbsup]

Unfortunately, according to William, you will be running them at some point in the future whether you know it or not.

Bummer.

Posted by James Nash (Member # 2836) on 12-13-2005, 12:08 AM:

Technicolor/Screenvision Digital Pre-show is excelent!

Has anyone else seen it?