Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Boycotting Friskies because of 3D theater ad

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Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 06-28-2012, 02:03 AM:

Having two kitties (Greg and Marcia, who are brother and sister and named after the Brady Bunch) I normally buy the large boxes of several cans of cat food. Friskies has the largest boxes with 32 cans, so that is what they eat the most- until now.

Yesterday I saw the movie "Brave" at the Century Roseville theater, at the "discount" price of $8.50- they have been doing $5 tickets on Tuesdays, but of course still charge an additional $3.50 for 3D. (I know I'll probably get some heat for complaining about this on discount night, but had we gone any other night we would have paid full price with the same results. They were also showing the movie on another screen billed as "EXtreme Digital Cinema" which they were charging about $15 for, luckily we arrived outside of the showtimes for that auditorium. I will say that $5 is a fair price for movie tickets and would go to theaters more often if that were the regular price for ALL movies. Being cheap, I felt $8.50 was still a bit much especially given the screen wasn't very big.)

The usual pre-show crap was going on when we sat down, but the first thing that came on when we were prompted to put on our 3D glasses was a COMMERCIAL *IN 3D* for Friskies cat food! Being a cat lover I might have enjoyed this under different circumstances, but having paid a premium just to get in the damn theater I was not amused at their being paid to show this to me. It just so happened that I was running out of my supply of cat food and had to buy more today, so I specifically bought another brand because of this ad I had seen, and I called Friskies' customer service line to let them know.

I commented that they COULD have turned this into something positive- for example, if it REALLY costs $3.50 more per patron to show 3D, why not have the ADVERTISERS cover that cost instead of gouging the customers? I might have been more inclined to buy products I saw advertised if I knew I was getting a break on the price as a result, but it seems the ad revenue is just being pocketed. There's a tremendous opportunity for working ads into 3D glasses too- they could print stuff on the plastic wrappers the glasses come in, and even on the glasses themselves. If I could see a 3D movie for under $5, I'd tolerate looking like a corporate whore for some company, but more than likely they'll just raise the prices even more if they do this.

I was especially disappointed that this was during a Disney movie- in 1990 Disney had a policy against any paid ads running with their movies, and even when I worked for Regal (the worst of the worst when it comes to on-screen ads) we were told not to run any ads with Disney or Buena Vista movies. I don't know if they have lifted this policy or if Cinemark is just giving Disney the finger. Neither would surprise me.

I've heard all the arguments about how theaters hardly get to keep any of their ticket revenue and showing ads is the only way they can make a profit, but as a customer that doesn't concern me. Bottom line is that if I pay a premium price, I don't want to have ads shoved in my face that someone is being paid to show me. I don't have to sit through commercials on my Blu-Ray discs or any other video format, and my cats can watch the movies with me too!

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 06-28-2012, 08:34 AM:

There are few businesses, these days, who see their customers as anything more than pawns. They don't consider customers as anything more than objects to be manipulated in order to increase their revenue stream. Prying dollars out of the customers' wallets is their first priority. Nothing more. Large commercial theater chains are about the worst of the worst.

I am not saying that theaters shouldn't make profit for the work they do and for the service they provide. Theaters or any other business exist to make profit. That's not the problem. It is the lack of focus on why a person/company chose to perform one service or sell a particular product versus some other service or product. Why did you choose to show movies and sell popcorn instead of operating a hotel or operating a retail store? If you can't answer that question, you have no business operating any business.

I don't doubt that some people in the company care about the customer. There are certainly some corporate managers and some employees in theaters who care but I think they are in the minority. Most corporate managers never see what goes on in a theater beyond the financial reports or other paperwork that gets transmitted back to headquarters. Most theater managers or workers never talk to anybody from corporate offices beyond the memos that get sent via e-mail or the quarterly visits that executives pay to theaters. It is this disconnect that is at the heart of the problem. Nobody at either end of the food chain sees anything from the other side except numbers, statistics or financial reports.

It's not necessarily management or the employee's fault. It is natural for people who are only exposed to numbers to start thinking only in terms of numbers. It is natural for them to start looking at the customers are nothing more than statistics to be counted.

I think the problem is the disconnect between corporate offices residing in office buildings located in Plano, Texas or Kansas City or some other place and the theaters scattered throughout every city in the country.

When was the last time you heard a customer say, "Thank you," as they were walking out of the theater even if it was just a social grace? When was the last time a corporate executive working at the home office heard that? Maybe never but it happens to me almost every day.

I'm probably an extreme example because I am the only employee/manager working at my single-screen, special venue theater but I think the example still holds water.

We don't show pre-show ads. We don't show any trailers. Regular priced tickets cost $7.50 and all seats on Tuesday cost $5.00. A large, 44 oz. popcorn costs $3.00, a 12 oz. soda costs $1.00 and a box of Milk Duds, etc., costs $1.75.

At those prices, we still make money!

The difference is that, in my theater, I serve every single customer and I talk to nearly every one of them, in person. My job is to make sure that every single customer gets to see the movie they came to see.

The only thing that the average employee at a commercial chain theater does is to put asses in seats and the only thing that the average commercial theater manager does is count the money at the end of the day.

I think that's where the root of the problem lies.

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 06-28-2012, 10:48 AM:

Were there cats doing adorable things in the commercial?

I'd totally pay extra to see cats doing adorable things in 3D.

Posted by Melanie Loggins (Member # 6454) on 06-28-2012, 11:39 AM:

Sam, I can't find the 'like' button for that comment....

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 06-28-2012, 12:05 PM:

I hope that you wrote letters to the manufacturer and to the theatre chain to let them know about your dissatisfaction. They won't notice an immaterial drop in cat-food sales, but they might notice if people started complaining about cinema advertising and explaining why it is causing them to lose business.

Even if it doesn't do any good, it will probably make you feel better.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-28-2012, 12:27 PM:

quote:
I'm probably an extreme example because I am the only employee/manager working at my single-screen, special venue theater but I think the example still holds water.

We don't show pre-show ads. We don't show any trailers. Regular priced tickets cost $7.50 and all seats on Tuesday cost $5.00. A large, 44 oz. popcorn costs $3.00, a 12 oz. soda costs $1.00 and a box of Milk Duds, etc., costs $1.75.

At those prices, we still make money!

Well...we're like you in a lot of ways -- similar prices (a little higher), single screen, however we do have employees. Even so, it costs far less to run a single screen even with employees than it does a huge multiplex with dozens or hundreds of employees on staff, plus a gigantic building to maintain.

I can't blame advertisers for wanting to exploit the 3-D. They'll feel it makes their ads look better and more "happening."

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 06-28-2012, 06:05 PM:

A 44oz popcorn is "large"? I sell a 46oz as "medium", for $3.50. A "large" is 85oz, and it's $4.50.

I have noticed over the past several months that I sell a lot less "small" (32oz) and medium popcorn than I used to. Most people order "large popcorn" now. Nothing has changed price-wise or anything else, but I'm ordering a lot more of the 85oz containers than I used to and a lot less of the other sizes,

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-28-2012, 09:33 PM:

We sell a 32 oz "small," a 46 oz "medium" and 85 oz "large." We also sell the 130 oz "extra large." The 85 is by far our best seller with the 46 in second place. We hardly sell any of the 32s.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 06-28-2012, 09:49 PM:

The small is 32 oz. for $2.00.

By far, the thing is sell the most of is the "Package" of a large (44 oz.) popcorn plus 2 x 12 oz. drinks for $4.00. Many people are happy to share their popcorn with their companion.

All refills, on everything, are only 50¢. Sometimes we have specials when the first refill is free. We hardly ever get people wanting refills even when they are free.

We're different, however. Our movies only average about 45 minutes long. [Shrug]

However, that does go back to the idea that movie theaters should do what customers want instead of just what "the numbers" say you should do.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-29-2012, 12:13 AM:

"45 minutes long?" Even with your smiley I'm not sure what you mean.....do you not show mainstream movies? What do you show?

As to "what customers want." If you asked most people "how much should you pay to see a movie," they most likely will think that anything over $5 is too much. This is because of two things: The public hasn't got a clue what it costs to run a movie theatre (especially one with today's modern amenities), and the studios have managed to destroy the perceived value of movies by renting them for a dollar from vending machines, or selling them for four bucks at Wal-Mart.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 06-29-2012, 12:43 AM:

I don't know about that. Some people who come here for the first time say "How can you survive here when you charge so little for your tickets and popcorn?"

A few years back one of my semi-regular customers came in one night and said, "Frank, I have a new appreciation for you. I just took my kids to see a movie at..." some multiplex in the city, "and you wouldn't believe how much it cost me!"

Of course, there are also a few for whom any price over fifty cents is far too much to pay...

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 06-29-2012, 05:26 AM:

quote: Jesse Skeen
I was especially disappointed that this was during a Disney movie- in 1990 Disney had a policy against any paid ads running with their movies

And I bet Disney, for Century to play "Brave", required that these 3D ads to be shown prior to performance start, which were prob integrated within the assembled SPL.

Guess, you didn't see "Madagascar 3D" .. this feature had 3D ads also prior to performance.

Sorry, in 22 yrs, things do change. The "House of Mouse" wasn't big back then in 1990 as they are now and they had Eisner...and I bet they completely rewrote the rule book on advertising.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 06-29-2012, 10:47 AM:

Madagascar 3D had no ads on the copy that I received.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-29-2012, 12:21 PM:

Frank - Guess I should have said "most people in larger cities," since that's where the really high prices are. Our ticket prices are on the low side of average ($7.25 for adults) but we always hear comments on how low-priced our concessions are compared to Billings Carmike theaters.

Also our Madagascar print had no such 3-D ads on it either. I think that would be a MAJOR mistake if the studios ever started doing that. The feature package should be just that, the FEATURE only (exceptions made for an added short, such as the Pixar ones).

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 06-29-2012, 01:16 PM:

It's not in the DCP package, it has to be added on in the SPL build prior to trailers.

You get a thumbdrive with the 3D content from a third party supplier that has to be ingested in your server.

Posted by Ross Oba (Member # 3433) on 06-29-2012, 02:41 PM:

I have to ask, but was this ad shown at show time or before? We have played the 3D preshow in the past but it always ran a few minutes before the advertised start time.

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 07-05-2012, 05:15 PM:

Don't remember what time it started, though I briefly saw a flashing cursor at the top of the screen before the ads switched from 2D to 3D. The "Put on your 3D glasses now" message implied that the show was starting at that point, and the audience was paying more attention and not talking after that.

Again, this might not have been as bad if the ad revenue had at least eliminated the $3.50 3D "upcharge", but I found it incredibly crass that the theater would charge extra for 3D AND show ads in 3D with it.

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 07-06-2012, 12:19 AM:

And my cats have been eating Nine Lives the past week. They pack fewer cans together which will mean I'll have to buy it twice as often, but they seem to like it better. Some flavors of Friskies made them throw up, so I'd already quit buying those- I should shoot video in 3D of them throwing up and make people pay to see that! [Wink]

Posted by John Lasher (Member # 968) on 07-06-2012, 12:07 PM:

Had this happen at the local Cinemark yesterday, e-mails of complaint sent off to the offending (3) advertisers and the theater chain. Before or after the posted start time is irrelevant. Showing me an ad in a format I have paid extra money to see is insulting at best, and outrageous at worst.