Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: No more popcorn?

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Posted by Sally Ann Burgess (Member # 4746) on 08-27-2008, 04:37 AM:

The cinema chain Picturehouse in the UK is no longer selling popcorn, after getting complaints about the smell. If it were up to me I would ban popcorn as it's just too messy to clean up but where would the profits come from then? Surely we'd have to jack up ticket prices to compensate? What does everyone think?

Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 08-27-2008, 09:43 AM:

It's a Catch 22 on bumping up the ticket prices. The more you raise the ticket prices, the more money you pay in film rental - usually based upon a percentage of the boxoffice gross. There is a limit as to what the average movie-goer will pay for tickets before they finally decide to just stay home and watch it from the comfort of their own living room - and I think some of the local indoor chains are quickly approaching that limit.

Selling popcorn at the movies originally started outside on the sidewalk by cart vendors, and the theatre owners eventually bought their own machines. It's been part of going to the movies ever since.

As a theatre owner - I know I'll never stop selling popcorn at my place - way too much profit.

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 08-27-2008, 09:55 AM:

The smell of popping corn is what sells it, and clean up? It sweeps, vacuums etc. quickly and easily. Certainly better to clean up than a mashed candy bar, or nachos and cheese.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 08-27-2008, 11:14 AM:

She might be referring to the cleanup of the popcorn kettles and the layer of vaporized popping oil that gets all over everything within 50 feet of the popper.

Movie theater popcorn is part of going to the movies and to no longer offer it seems pretty dumb to me.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-27-2008, 12:00 PM:

How many complaints? A few?

I would guess they're probably using some cheap mutant type of oil which stinks, and/or they are burning the corn too often. In almost 30 years I've never had one single complaint about the smell of our popcorn.

To drop the most profit generating thing in the whole snack bar, not to mention THE REASON some people go to the movies in the first place, borders on insanity.

UPDATE:
Picturehouse is not dropping popcorn completely, they are just having "popcorn-free screenings" as a test in September. If it works out, they'll continue having popcorn-free screenings but will still offer popcorn at other screenings.

However there are some cinemas that are indeed discontinuing corn, mostly upscale arthouse places. LINK

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 08-27-2008, 12:26 PM:

quote:
there is no way in which [popcorn] fits with the culturally sophisticated brand I wish to sell

Oh yeah? How about this: There's no way I would patronize a movie theater run by effete snobs, for effete snobs, who think popcorn is too lowbrow to deal with. TAKE THAT! [Razz]

Dumbasses. Offer organic corn popped in some kind of "healthy" oil, topped with, I don't know, sea salt and the option of nutritional yeast.

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 08-27-2008, 02:31 PM:

Totally agree with the above, couldn't put it any better. The only reason these places don't sell popcorn is because they can get away with selling a small pot of olives for £3 which lets them pretend they are an 'art house'. I bet 90% of those cinemas showed Batman or Mamma Mia first run.

Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 08-29-2008, 02:12 PM:

I just read a story about this on the BBC News website.
(video link here)

It's stupid. Popcorn and cinema are synonymous.

What next? Will MacDonalds stop selling Big Macs because they are too hard to clean up.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 08-31-2008, 02:34 AM:

quote: Michael Brown
What next? Will MacDonalds stop selling Big Macs because they are too hard to clean up.

In some areas that's exactly what they've done and why they've done it.

Local McDonald's dumps Big Macs from its menu...say they're too messy to clean up.

Posted by Cameron Glendinning (Member # 3516) on 09-03-2008, 03:02 AM:

well has anyone ever been to a PICTUREHOUSE run cinema?

I went once to one I think it was in Clappen in South London, It goes down as one of the worst examples of presentation in a poorly designed cinema that I have ever experienced, they gave me my money back and I never returned, nor 15 years later would I.
In this business you never get a second chance to make a great first impression!

Now on the other hand I have worked in a cinema in Sydney Australia that refused to sell popcorn and suprisingly its Candy Bar did very well, very high spend per person for an arthouse.(and was the first cinema company in Australia to sell multiflavour choc top ice creams!) It also sold beers and wines ect.

Posted by Richard Curtis (Member # 4915) on 09-03-2008, 04:37 AM:

There is a Picturehouse cinema here in Liverpool, and I think they only sell bags of Butterkist popcorn (which I think is foul), and I'm not sure huge numbers of people are too bothered - this cinema is newer than the local Odeon 10 (or something) screen, is quieter, and allows you to take a drink from the bar into the auditorium. People seem to like to buy chocolate, sweets and ice cream from the concession booth, but no-one I've ever been there with has felt that popcorn is the one thing they really want, and I can't say I've ever seen them sell any while I've been there!

So Picturehouse places aren't all bad!

Posted by Alexa Raisbeck (Member # 4818) on 09-06-2008, 11:19 AM:

Pop corn has a very good profit to yield ratio for instance a bag of popcorn can be made for about 2p/3p but sold at £4.00 and upwards- i will let you do the math! When i researched cinema food for a university paper i found that commercially popcorn is loved by the masses but in the arthouse sector much less so. I belive the picture house cinemas lean towards an arthouse film program which might explain why the chain dropped it but don't expect the commercials to do the same.

Posted by Andy Frodsham (Member # 4061) on 09-15-2008, 12:57 AM:

'Fortunately' we've never sold the stuff at our theatre!

Personally, I never could see its appeal - it always tasted like salty cardboard to me.

My biggest objection, when visiting theatres that do sell the stuff, is the mess it makes and the way people throw it around!