Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Parade Magazine and sneaking in snacks.

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Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 07-13-2008, 11:44 AM:

Today's Parade Magazine has an article on frugal families. Among the cost saving tricks is this little gem:

"A big day out is a trip to the dollar movie theater, with snacks smuggled in 2-year-old Owen's diaper bag."

Link

At least one comment has been posted questioning Parade for including this in their article.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 07-13-2008, 03:56 PM:

Hey, why stop at that?....Parade should just tell them a good way to save on rising food costs is to just walk down the supermarket isle and stash as much produce as they can into their 2yr old's diaper bag. Stuff expensive meat cuts into their panty-hose.

Parade -- total arseholes.

[ 07-14-2008, 01:57 AM: Message edited by: Frank Angel ]

Posted by Thomas Pitt (Member # 4322) on 07-14-2008, 03:51 PM:

It seems that more and more cinemas are stopping you from taking your own food and drink into the auditorium; you have to buy it at the concession stand. Many are also stopping you taking any kind of bag in with you - forcing you to leave it at the box office or in a locker somewhere. Apparently this is mainly to stop people smuggling cameras in, but it also works for own food and drink.

I wonder how long it'll be before cinemas have a "minimum purchase" sign at the concession stand, and you HAVE to buy food/drink before you're allowed in? [Wink]

If they're that concerned about losing concession sales, they could increase the ticket prices slightly to cover the losses. Not a drastic increase, just a tiny surcharge above the normal ticket price. Multiply that by the number of people who buy tickets, and you've got a fairly large sum of money.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 07-14-2008, 04:59 PM:

quote: Thomas Pitt
If they're that concerned about losing concession sales, they could increase the ticket prices slightly to cover the losses. Not a drastic increase, just a tiny surcharge above the normal ticket price. Multiply that by the number of people who buy tickets, and you've got a fairly large sum of money.

The problem with trying to offset rising costs by upping ticket prices is that the studio is also taking a chunk of that increase. If you up your prices 25¢ then you're lucky if you get to keep 12¢ of that increase. Plus, every time you raise ticket prices, you have to worry about making it too expensive for some people.

Part of the idea is to keep ticket prices as reasonable as possible is to make it as affordable as possible to get people through the doors. I personally wouldn't have an issue with people brining their own candy if they were buying their drinks at the snack bar; or bring bottled water and buy a popcorn.

One of the big problems with people brining in their own food and drink is they usually don't take their trash with them - in fact, they usually leave it on the floor. So we're having to clean up after them and add their trash to what is being collected. And we're not receiving any money to offset those costs. Plus you have the issue of people brining in glass containers which create a safety hazard when broken - we had a SoBe bottle break in Wall•E about two weeks ago.

Also, watching people's spending habits at the snack bar, you can see that it's not necessary for people to drop $100 to take a family of four to the movies. At my theatre, matinee tickets are $6.50; a 16oz drink is $2.75, a 20oz drink is $3.25, or a bottle of water is $2.00, and a large popcorn is $6.00. It is realistically possible to take a family of 4 to the movies, get everyone a drink and popcorn, and spend about $40.00. It's always the people who are dropping $8-$10 per person who complain the most about the snack bar prices.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 07-16-2008, 01:42 AM:

Why should people who respect a theatre's "No outside food allowed in the theatre" policy and who don't bring in their own food and who buy at the snack bar, why should they have to subsidize people who don't respect the theatre's no outside food policy? I should raise the ticket price on those good patrons?

And if you raise your ticket price, then you are putting yourself at a disadvantage of your competitor who keeps his standard ticket price and just is more hardnose about policeing patrons who are actually that tacky as to drag in food in their under-garments. It doesn't take much to train ushers to spot food abusers and make them eat their crap before they are allowed into the theatre.

Does anyone think a restaurant would allow people to bring in their own food? Why should a theatre?

I say, hose them down with a fire hose if they are caught with food they didn't buy at the snack bar.

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 07-16-2008, 02:21 AM:

Frank says, "Does anyone think a restaurant would allow people to bring in their own food? Why should a theatre?"

Just to be clear, customers are not irrational here. They do not understand that concessions are important to theatres' finances, and they think the answer to that question is "Because I'm bringing FOOD into the theatre, not a MOVIE."

This is not to justify the behavior of those customers, but rather to explain it.

Note that person who commented on the Parade article and didn't like sneaking in food decided to just stop going to the movies altogether, and instead to just rent movies. Be careful what you wish for.

--jhawk

Posted by Christopher Crouch (Member # 3784) on 07-16-2008, 04:14 AM:

Beyond the business aspect, I find it sad that this individual is utilizing their child to sneak in food. Not that I haven't seen such bevhavior countless times, but it never fails to disapoint me.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 07-16-2008, 05:40 AM:

quote: John Hawkinson was the last to post
Does anyone think a restaurant would allow people to bring in their own food? Why should a theatre?

I used this line once on a lady who was trying to bring in her Starbucks drink and she promptly responded that she brings her own wine to restaurants all the time. That really threw me and all I could do is simply respond "that may be the case, but we still don't allow outside food or drink".

The other thing that really bugs me about this is the people who want you to make an exception for them. The response I always want to give to this is "what possible reason would I have for making an exception for you when I don't make an exception for anyone else".

Posted by Mark Hajducki (Member # 1732) on 07-16-2008, 10:01 AM:

quote: Justin Hamaker
she promptly responded that she brings her own wine to restaurants all the time.

The only restaurants round here that allow you to BYOB tend not to have an alcohol license, also they usually charge a corkage fee. (yes you can bring in your Starbucks, but it will cost you $5!)

This brings us on to the food permit idea that some drive in theatres use.

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 07-16-2008, 11:23 AM:

Well, personally, I think this is much ado about nothing... After hanging around theaters for 3 decades, I just don't think *that* many people sneak food in. Jhawk is right on both counts: customers don't know where the ticket money goes, and could choose to stay home. I don't know about you, but $40 is still a lot of money for a family of six, especially when compared to Netflix.

If I knew more about marketing, I would try to turn this around somehow. Maybe like letting customers know why concession sales are important, and offering some discount to large families ("fourth kid get popcorn and drink free..") or something. I admit things are tough, but confronting people about this issue in public will only come out looking look bad for theaters.

Be glad that the woman in the story is trying to pay off their debt. There are people who not only want to be bailed out of their bad loans (while keeping their home) but demand it as their right. A group near me wants to sue the goverment because it hasn't happened yet, and want the goverment to pay all future interest as 'punishment' for allowing the bank to write the bad loan.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 07-17-2008, 01:11 AM:

Is it really worth it to battle the customers over this issue? The customers you confiscate the food and drink aren't going to suddenly go "I'm going to buy something from concessions now." They're just going to sit and watch the movie without food/drink. So, all you've managed to do is piss off a customer and jeopardize his ever coming back to your establishment and buying a ticket (through which you still reap benefit). You're going to have ZERO effect on your concession sales in doing so.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 07-17-2008, 03:12 AM:

The problem with not saying anything is that's basically the same thing as saying it's ok. If people see you not saying something to others about brining in their McDonald's or whatever then they assume it's ok to do the same thing.

And yes, there have been plenty of times where I've asked someone to finish a drink before they come inside and then they wind up buying something at the snack bar. Maybe they still would have purchased something, but asking them to finish their food or drink before coming inside didn't deter them.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 07-17-2008, 03:51 AM:

I did some research and it appears that the family Parade Magazine interviewed loves to tongue lots of unwiped anus. Just because this family can't get good jobs doesn't mean they should be featured in a newspaper magazine that few people read. Why MUST they sneak in snacks? This implies that they MUST eat during a movie. They'd save more money if they just forgot the food items. They'd probably weigh less as well, fat asses. What a stingy family. I bet Christmas and birthdays suck in that family. "Here little Jimmy, I made you something out of popsicle sticks. Merry Christmas!!!". "Gee thanks mom. For your Christmas present I pissed in your gas tank. It's cheaper than real gas so it must be better!". I'd probably commit suicide if I were part of that stingy-ass cheap-o family.

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 07-17-2008, 04:18 AM:

Who the hell would want to eat food that was carried in a diaper bag? YUCK! [puke]

Mom to little Jimmy: "No honey, that brown stuff is chocolate from a candy bar..." [Eek!]

Caddyshack Clip - pool turd.

Edit: Changed my poor original choice/misleading title for the link.
[uhoh]

[ 07-17-2008, 01:48 PM: Message edited by: Phil Hill ]

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-17-2008, 10:02 AM:

In the big picture, it's no big deal. We ask people to finish any food items before they come in -- ice cream, burgers, etc. -- but if someone comes in with 1/4 of a bottle of water, we tend not to say anything because we hope they'll buy popcorn and a fresh drink when they get inside and see our attractive snackbar!

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 07-17-2008, 02:00 PM:

Mike, Justin's got it right. You let people carry in a supply of Big Macs and crap and you are telling everyone else that it's ok. You have a no outside food policy but you let the customer ignore it, i.e., it's ok for anyone who wants to to break it (and any other policy they may want to ignore). That WILL eventually deminish your concessions bottom line because you are in effect telling everyone, come on in, folks, and bring in your own catered dinner. You have half your audience chomping down on their Third Angus Burges and frys and you're concessions per cap will be in the dumpster, to say nothing of the cost of cleaning up all the extra packaging garbage that comes in with that outside food.

There are a lot of rules that we have which may piss off this or that customer, but that doesn't mean we just say let them ignore which ever ones they want because we are afraid they might not come back.

Hey, Target, Lowes, maybe Home Depot, I'm not sure, and IKEA have a 'no outside food allowed in the stores policy' (IKEA I think because they have their own restaurant). And they don't have any problem making people finsh whatever food stuffs or drinks they have in their fat stubby fingers before they are allowed into the store. Doesn't seem to bother them if the customer is pissed or not.

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 07-17-2008, 05:48 PM:

When I suggest not to make a big deal out of 'outside' food, I'm talking about sneaking in snacks, a can of soda, etc. If someone tries to bring a big bag of smelly chinese food, a large pizza, etc., in that case, yes, they should be stopped.

Posted by Alex Rolfe (Member # 1648) on 07-18-2008, 09:50 AM:

There's also the issue of cleanup. If a customer spills food or drink they bought from us, well, at least we got something out of it. But their own food...I get really grumpy picking up someone's nasty burrito wrapper or mopping up their coffee.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-18-2008, 05:10 PM:

quote: Frank Angel
Mike, Justin's got it right. You let people carry in a supply of Big Macs and crap and you are telling everyone else that it's ok.

I can't speak for the others, but when I said "it's no big deal," I meant that it's not that big of a problem. IOW, maybe one out of a hundred people might carry in a water bottle or something. But we don't allow outside food of any type past our doors, nor do we allow full unopened bottles of pop (that we catch).

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 07-20-2008, 03:35 AM:

It really is a matter of perception on the part of the patrons. DIs have an especially hard time because people are coming in in their cars which they do perceive as an extention of their home, which of course is sacrosanct -- their home is their castle while their car is their castle away from home. The don't believe anyone can tell them what they can do in their car. Also, the DI has a kind of picnic atmosphere which is one of its alluring charms, which is why it can be difficult changing that perception.

On the other side of the coin -- and here is where perception is incredibly powerful -- when people come to our Performing Arts theatres, believe it or not, our policy is that are actually not allowed to bring the food that they just bought at the concessions into the theatre. They have to stand at one of the many small table all over the grand lobby and eat what they've purchased at those tables. And this they don't complain about because it is done at all the other major performing arts centers -- the only exception to this rule is that they are allowed to bring in bottled water purchased from our concessions. The amazing thing is that they seem to have no problem with this. Me, I would be kicking and screaming.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 07-20-2008, 07:07 AM:

I go pretty much with Mike here. Most of the resistance we got at our indoor came from the fact that all of our local houses had "no outside food" stickers on their doors... but we were the only ones enforcing it, and the customers knew it.

I've never much cared for how theatres tie their concessions to the customer experience. Expecting a customer to support the concessions after buying a ticket is risky, since there really is no obligation to do so.

It's worked better for me to encourage what really is an optional purchase on the part of the customer, but not to focus on it as the tipping point of my survival. As such, we'd explain that whether the customer chose to purchase from the snack bar was his option... but we didn't want outside food, containers or cleanup inside the building.

Given the lack of enforcement from the chains, this was a problem we never totally solved.

In any case, having a national publication encourage the practice would definitely get me writing letters. Sneaking into the drive-in is another of those "traditions" that seems to be an ongoing part of our life here! [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 07-20-2008, 09:58 AM:

Just like the drive in policy of "no outside food or beverage": you have the absolute right to determine your company's rules.

Likewise, the customer has the absolute right to stay away or comply.

Really quite simple.

BTW: there is NO place that charges admission that allows food & drink in, except drive ins. No, not the Derby, the Indy 500, football, baseball, basketball, plays or concerts. Not even Little League anymore. Louis

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 07-20-2008, 08:16 PM:

Good point, Louis. If people want to eat outside food or drink, then they have the option to eat it outside the theater.

I have heard many stories of people being stopped by our ticket takers and raising a fuss about our policy (No outside food or drink), which is clearly posted at both the box office and autitorium entrances. Clearly, complainers always want our managers to make an exception for them. Reasonable people will always finish their refreshment and then go in.

Unreasonable people will bitch and moan in the hope that our managers will eventually give in. What part of the word "NO" do they not understand?

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 07-20-2008, 09:48 PM:

quote: Louis Bornwasser
BTW: there is NO place that charges admission that allows food & drink in, except drive ins.

Yah... this is an ongoing discussion, pretty much anywhere drive-in owners congregate.

There are a couple of problems here. The obvious one, for those who want to stop the practice, is that it has been acceptable practice, at least up until the past 5 years or so. The debate has been spirited, and for the most part, fairly civilized, given that drive-in owners have strong opinions on most everything... and this is no different.

The other problem is with the customers themselves. They'll find a way to rationalize any behavior they choose to bring in with them... and outside food is no different. "Excuse me... you can't run your barbecue here"... "well... I did last year"... "If you did, it was only because we didn't catch you. Maybe you didn't notice the sign that's right next to the poster you used to select your show tonight... the one that says "No cooking on drive-in property"?... It's been there for 10 years." ... "Why, no... I didn't see that"!!!!

Now, we're being compared to state parks, where you can cook... so that's the latest stretch.

There are too many angles to this argument, and we've all polished our respective approaches. We're all correct in our thinking, naturally!

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 07-21-2008, 10:26 AM:

Just for the record, the Target store 200 yards from an AMC 24 plex has a large display of "Movie Theater Candy" near the checkouts. Prices are about 1/3 of what the theatre charges. And, to make it easy for Ohio State students, one of the free bus stops from campus is right next to the Target store!

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 07-21-2008, 02:21 PM:

Yeah, I long for the good old days when the only place you could buy the "theatre sized" candy was in....theatres!

Of course theatres used to be the only place you could see a movie, too. (That was better as well.)

Posted by Luci Reeve (Member # 3651) on 07-24-2008, 05:14 PM:

Does it really affect your bottom line?

Posted by Daniel Wright (Member # 1983) on 07-26-2008, 11:50 PM:

There used to be a Dollar store in the Prominade Mall in Tulsa. Which sold big bags of pre popped popcorn. I saw more then one customer munching away on it in the movies. Since the theatre is inside the mall they can't stop you from bringing in shopping bags. After the store closed I always wondered if the theatres management put pressure on the malls owners to get rid of it.

Posted by Andrew Bangs (Member # 4938) on 09-07-2008, 02:14 AM:

My favorite is when they try to bribe us by offering us some. At that point I just stand their stone faced and say no thank you now please either finish it put it in you car or throw it out. However every now and again they sneak it by our ushers who at times could be considered "special" and then while cleaning the theaters find a "present" left behind. My example being two separate times, once they brought in a six pack of Corona and left 4 full unopened bottles. That was a good night after closing. And the other was, not one but, two bottles of wine plus 4 plastic wine glasses. One bottle was left unopened and the other was half full. The kicker is both times they were the only people in the theatre and they were semi regulars. So we knew them the next time they came in. Unfortunately since it was alcohol we had to ban them from the theatre. That and for being so stupid. Boy you gotta hate banning Regulars like that.

On the other end of the spectrum I was cleaning a theatre one slow afternoon and was disgusted when I found a Jiffy pop bag under one of the seats. I did a double take however as stuffed inside the jiffy pop bag was one of our small pop corn bags. [Eek!]

I guess they had to maintain an image for their friends or something. [Roll Eyes]