20 dollars an hour is measly?!? Jeesh.

Hi John,

Early in the article you stated it's "no skin off your nose" if you are subjected to 15 min of commercials before the movie starts. But then you take a different tack, and complain about the 15 min. Is your main gripe that these 15 min cause the movie to start later than it says?  Personally, I am disgusted by theaters showing ANY commercials to me after I paid $11 to watch a MOVIE.  Paying money should actually EXEMPT us from watching commercials, but the corporations are so slimy they find a way to subject a "captive audience" to a vulgar parade of advertising.  Even cable "on-demand" selections include commercials; it's unbelievable how powerful these advertisers are, that they can even convince TiVo to make it harder for their customers to simply "skip" the commercials, forcing them to fast-forward through them, even though the technology exists to skip them.

You know there are going to be 20 mins of commercials, turn up 20 mins later. If everyone did this then they would not generate as much revenue for the ads as provider would be willing to pay less. Therefore the cinema would stop showing them as it would be more profitable for them to get an extra showing in each day that pack it full of ads. If you are that bothered by something do something about it, explain to people who are about to go in that if they stand outside now then you will be saving their time in the future. Start a movement. Create a solution.

Personally I enjoy the commercials!

I remember actually enjoying the previews of upcoming movies before the actual movie starts. But when I saw 20 minutes of regular TV type commercials, it got sickening. They make 1000% on their food sales and the cost of going to the movies has grown over the years and I am OK with that. But like you John, I find the ads before the movies a bad move and actually sets a negative mood before the movie starts. Thanks for the article!!! good read and good to know I'm not alone!

I am personally boycotting all movie theaters that play commercials. This is just another reason why Netflix will continue to make money. The old model of advertising is dead. Hollywood and the big guys need to get the younger generation involved in determining the direction to go with smart advertising. It really doesnt amaze me that all the sheep will watch what is put in front of them, but forcing someone who paid to see a movie to watch commercials is unacceptable. And they know this. Their hope is that the movie gower is made up of either young or poor who think that by letting the Cinemas show commercials to them, that this will stem the cost of tickets. The real issue is the one caused by the FREE generation. When you torrent or watch "free" online, 80% of your movies and then only go to that movie that you feel is worth the $!5 movie ticket, you really arent playing it smart. As attendance goes down, ticket prices must go up. I will say that recently Hollywood has produced more film then quality and that doesnt help the matter.

This is just the beginning of a more pressing issue. In a downed economy how far will we allow advertisers to go so that we can falsely believe that we still have the same quality of life?

Now airlines have followed the movie industry and soon enough we ALL will have to be subject to the unacceptable commercials. On a TV I have the choice of turning it off and not watching it. But in a movie theater it is impossible to turn off the "super surround sound" so the only action I have is to leave and demand my money back from the manager.

In an airplane... I cannot leave. And in fact if I made a scene I would probably have to talk to TSA or be arrested.

If showing commercials in a theater is piracy, then showing commercials before the captains message on an airline is criminal….

When will we stand up for what is decent? Ask your grandparents if they think these things are acceptable since most of you are probably to young to know better...

Thank you for some other informative website. The place else may just I get that type of information written in such a perfect way? I have a undertaking that I am simply now working on, and I've been at the glance out for such information.

I hate "TV Ads" at the theater too, but it is not the same thing as piracy. Your time that you paid to watch the movie is real and measurable. Piracy deals with 1's and 0's, it is a victim-less crime. Piracy really shows the inconsistency between Capitalism and reality. "Intellectual property" is an invented term to allow copyrights to become ridiculous. Read the short story "The right to read" by Richard Stallman.

Dear John ... haha ... my first ever "Dear John" letter. You are much too soft on this issue. Showing commercials in movie theatres (at any time) should be illegal. I stopped going to theatres ... let's see ... 14 years ago when I knew this was a "losing battle" with, not just my local theatre, but with, movie theatres everywhere. I am not a mindless, passive, low IQ, money punching bag zombie ... I just refuse to be a "victim" of this money grab. I can even tolerate product placement and movie ads within the movie, if the movie is entertaining, but I recommend to anyone and everyone who reads your blog - stop going to movie theatres completely. We can become the majority, one day. What? Stop laughing .... it could happen!

I have found worst then ads in theater ... ads in DVD or worst BlueRay. I have recently moved from dvd to BD and most movies ( that I bought ) have ads and you can't skip them. So why is it that every time that I want to see a movie that I have bought I have to watch the same ads. This is why people rip their DVD and Bd to get rid of those 'features'.

hey, great article.. can you please help me find more info about the cost of commercials in movie theatres , im doing some research for my sociology class about ads. :)

Norah

from Norway.

Hi there! I simply would like to give an enormous thumbs up for the good data youve got here on this post. I will likely be coming back to your weblog for more soon.

whats even worse

is my wife refuses to call a preview a commercial for movies

ho well if that's all we got to fight about we're having a good time

When I go to a theater I am expecting an experience above and beyond being bombarded by advertising. The commercials should go the way of the dinosaurs!

I don’t support online movie piracy because it takes away from the amount of money the filmmakers make. I like supporting the people who created the film so they can continue to make more great movies.

I hope that you’re exaggerating the point that movie piracy and pre-movie advertisements are the same thing only to emphasize your frustration with Cineplex, AMC, or whoever it may be that’s ‘wasting your time’.

You bring up an interesting point, but quite frankly, I just don’t care. I’ll allow 15 minutes extra for previews if it means I’m supporting the filmmakers.

I think they should maybe use the money they make from those ads to enforce no cellphones in theatres though. I didn't pay good money and wait 2 hours to see inception in IMAX for a texter to sit next to me and flash her cellphone in my face.

Okay, you rush like mad to get to theatre. stand in line. buy the ickets aridiculous pries to begin with. take a mortg on your house to scarf down buttered or what appears o be poltically correct butter. do a balance act, pirouette towards the ticket guy. He tears your ticket hands it back to you and you begin that long ponderous trek to your seat a semi-darkened room. You find it. settle don. check your watch. great seats. fiftennminutes to and then it begins. the commercials begin slowly tantalizing you with inane quizes about one hit wonders, a new ar? an old car? is it sfae. you feellike Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man. Sir Laurence is smiliong at you "is it safe" one more commercial for the sensuality fo movie going. No I lied. five or six or seven even. Then the room grows darker. ther is a reprieve. Here comes the real trick. The trailers. making the worst written, directed fiolms look so marvelous that you want to repet the agony again and ahain. Like sheep we are drawn back and why? Either we really love the whole ritual of movie going or we are just too stupid or lazy to put up with all of tyhe ommercials we get on cable. Someone wrote but thje actor salaries push up the price so we bnneed commerials. tell me what ctor is worth 20 million? now becof commercials, if the movie does not start on time i ask fo a discount. if the movie bores the hll out me i ask for money back. I did that in dustrict nine, the manger was very nice, gave me a pass for the net film an ilently said. "Ge I'm glad more people do not follow your eample. But guess what. I love the movies and i aways go back for more. Excuse my typing. it's anj age thing. I feel like Harry Brown.

Just simply annoying , , ,

Though I agree with the basic sentiment of your post, I disagree with some of your reasoning.

Basically, it's Hume,

Much of what you are saying is merely an expression of your own subjective preferences, but you treat them as moral standards. You cannot derive an ought from an is.

"Pirating" films is not a "crime". There is no such thing as a crime, "crime" is merely an intellectual construct. Crime is defined individually. It's only your preference that piracy is a crime.

In fact, the issue is more complex than that. Law is likewise a subjective intellectual construct. In the case of piracy, we have two conflicting definitions of property law.

The popular definition, "media is free if I want it to be", and the media producers opinion,"the media I produce is my property and I only license viewing rights".

Computer technology and the internet have seriously undermined the value of media. Because media can now be cheaply duplicated and distributed the value has been reduced. This goes the same for anything, if we invented transportation and replication devices the economy as we know it would cease to exist. It would be outmoded by technology.

Because there is no reasonable way to enforce the media producers definition of property right it is essentially outdated.

So what the media producers are doing, is seeking further protection from the state. This means that they get the state to set up death threats to enforce the media producers "property rights". This will artificially enforce the profits of the media producers, thus upsetting the equilibrium of social order. It is an institutional protection racket. This is why I object to your statements, because you are inadvertently advocating death threats, and institutional death threats destabilize society.

It works the other way too. Though I personally loathe ads in theaters, if enough people are willing to endure them for the theater to profit (without institutional coercion) then that activity could be considered "legitimate".

I hate the ads, I haven't been to the theater all year, their course of actions has diminished their potential profit. This motivates them to better serve my interests. Meanwhile I'm hitting up alternative sources to entertain myself.

I agree with your basic sentiment, that advertising in theaters is hypocritical on the part of the theaters, but know you Hume and watch your is's and oughts.

I love the trailers but hate the commercials, but it is now expected.....the thing I hate even more is when you BUY the DVD to view at home and you have to watch commercials and trailers.

If you try to skip it you are not allowed (I had to fast forward about 20 minutes worth of adverts to watch a DVD the other day). I mean, come on, if you are going to include advertising in a DVD purchase then give the consumer (you know, the person who pays your salary) the option to watch or not to watch them. Some DVDs allow this, but I was really pissed when I tried to skip the DVD adverts and was told that was not an option.

That is just rude and in all truthfulness hurting your consumer.

This is why we only ever arrive at the theatre AT the listed showing time (sometimes a few minutes after). We know that, after paying our $14/seat, we've got until movie time +20 to get into our seats and not miss anything.

We live a five minute drive from our closest multiplex. If the movie's stated starting time is 19:00, we leave the house no sooner than 19:00. We've yet to miss any film time by taking this scheduling. So, yeah, the theatre gets money for delaying the film, but the advertisers get little in return for the time spent in front of a nearly empty screening room. Makes me wonder if the theatres charge more, per minute, the closer to the movie it's displayed. They probably should.

Kudos to the editor! I had never thought of this, but it does aggravate me seeing commercials, when I simply came to watch a movie. I do like trailers, but hate commercials! I usually don't show up anymore until 10 or 15 minutes after start time, so I decrease the time I spend watching those commercials, but I totally agree with this article!

I hate commercials as much as the next person, but please be reminded that you wouldn't be able to see the movie at the price you are watching them for if it weren't for advertising (*bull detected here). The costs of bringing the movie to the viewer are reduced by the inane commercials advertising things you likely already buy. If it wasn't for Coca-cola, or BMW, or SONY, for example, how many of you would have enjoyed all the movies you have seen? Don't forget: getting this many of the general public into one room at the same time is a marketer's dream come true. Let Apple tell you that your life now has meaning; let coke tell you that a polar bear will suck off your lid and pour you down his throat; let VW tell you that they have a funny marketing department. All of it is meant to shape your experience. Why question it? It's not like the government is forcing you to watch these by gunpoint (snerk).

You have no idea how much I hate commercials! I feel like I'm being cheated on what could possibly be better than the movie itself...the trailers! More trailers less advertising.

The worst part of the commercials...they are the same every time and in every movie. They can't even give us a little diversity!

Just purchase a old theater from the early 60 or early looking to sell the old projector can anyone help me out

Not sure if the owner of this site will read this but someone I believe is 'posing' as me, posted the statement above:

"Seriously? Commercials is about money (someone getting some)…piracy is about money (someone taking some)….

How is one worse than the other……really?"

I do not endorse or condone piracy - period. If you would kindly email me the IP of the person that posted I'd be very interested to track that down.

Thanks in advance.

I agree with you, the advertising before the movies has become a chore for moviegoers. By the time I'm done being barraged with commercials for products that I probably won't buy, my popcorn is gone and my patience is wearing thin. The worst is when I'm forced to watch advertisements for selling advertisements on the screen.

The Arbitron poll said that moviegoers "don't mind" the ads, but who's to say whether they mind or not, or if they simply understand that this is to be expected when frequenting the theater?

These advertising tactics must be working for the industry, since they've increased their advertising revenue to $456 million, but I feel that at some point, moviegoers as a whole will "mind" when they're forced to watch 20 minutes of commercials each time they go see a movie. I wouldn't watch 20 minutes of commercials at home, why would I want to do it in the theater?

Great points you make there John, although I don't really agree.

First off, whenever I go see a film I highly doubt I have ever spent more than 5 minutes watching commercials after the film has started. I honestly haven't timed it, but I'm sure I'm being generous even with that amount.

I also find it funny that no one minds the trailers, after all they are just commercials for other movies - designed to do the exact same thing a commercial does right?

As I see it, the commercials are a subsidy in a way. Prices for movies haven't gone up in my area in easily 5-6 years, while my movie rentals and cable bill both have. So I'll happily sit through a few commercials with that in mind.

And lastly, monetizing your leisure time was, for me, a weak point in an otherwise great article. I mean really, do you expect them to give you a free pop to compensate your time because you drove all the way to the theatre?

You do always have the choice to enter the movie 5-15 minutes late. Now doing this on the opening night or week of a movie is something I would never do, but if I hated commercials that much it might be an option.

Near my house I have a multiplex where they charge $12.50 for an evening screening - they show no ads and go straight into trailers when the show starts. A buddy of mine lives right across from a different multiplex and when I go to a movie there, it costs $9.95, but they show a good 3-4 lengthy (not like 30 sec TV ads) commercials.

In effect they pay me $2.50 to sit through 10 minutes or so of advertising. Personally it doesn't effect which theater I'd rather go to because I don't mind paying more to miss those crappy ads, but on the other hand, spread that $2.50 discount over several people and it's sometimes worth the torture.

I know! It's almost as annoying as getting cut off in traffic or getting a splinter off a piece of wood! I think I'll take the time to write a blog about that myself, but to be honest, doing something like that would WASTE A LOT OF MY TIME. Not that I don't understand your reason for typing up this complaint, I just don't like WASTING MY TIME.

I went to see Crank 2, a couple days ago. I saw a Sobe ad....the exact same sobe ad I saw at mall cop, friday 13th, and taken. Only this time...it looped. 4 times. The exact same ad, looped 4 times. I almost walked out right then and asked for a refund.

Amen!

Commercials and advertising before the movie at the theater is attrocious.

Yeah, i hate the fact that the movie starts at least a half hour after the scheduled time because of ads and previews.

Makes me want to show up 20 minutes late, but then I can't see to find a seat.

Thank God or evolution I live in Holland where there are movietheaters without commercials and they're asking only 1 dollar or so more then the commercialised theaters. Besides they have better movies there. Not the block (mind) busters....

I work at a movie theater. I have for five years now. We never play commercials past the start time. first we play slides and background music. (paid ads) Than twenty minuets before show time the "pre show countdown" begins. (paid aids). But once it's show time we only show trailers. And a funny little "be quiet" snippet which is usually sponsered by some company, but its a necessary messege. Everyone loves trailers, their some peoples favortie part. I dont know what your complaining about.

All I know is that If I am going to pay $15 to watch a movie and, lets say, another $10 for popcorn and a drink, I sure do NOT want to waste my time on mindless commercials that bore you to sleep. (Although, on one aspect, I did recently see a cute commercial in the theatre that made me laugh). But all that aside..I agree with your observations, commercials should stop at showtime.

Here's a slightly different perspective on this, from someone who used to work as a manager in a movie theater and still has several friends in the biz.

Movie theaters are not making more money than before. In fact, most movie theaters right now are making less money than they have in past years and are struggling to stay alive. The sagging economy, widespread piracy, and cheaper and higher quality home theater systems are all factors. For many theaters, the new revenue that this sort of advertising provides is the only thing keeping them afloat.

Of course this doesn't undermine your basic argument - I agree that advertising after the scheduled showtime is irritating. But maybe it will alleviate your anger a little bit to realize that nobody is getting rich off of your having to sit through a few extra commercials.

i can see your are ranting a bit but u still make an excellent point.And can u justify downloading movies for free if the cinemas are making more money than before?

I agree in part. I feel that with all the additional income from the commercials that our ticket prices should be subsidized. I used to get pissed about commercials on cable and satellite TV. After all I'm paying to get these channels as opposed to the channels I get for free with an antenna.

Then I realized how much more these channels would cost without said advertising. They would cost as much each month as the Premium channels of HBO, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime, etc.

So I'm okay with the ads in cable and satellite.

I'll be okay with ads in the movie theaters if they can really show me that my ticket price is less because of it, but when I can clearly remember buying a movie ticket only 10 years ago for $3.50 in the same theater that I now have to pay $9 there is no way I can be convinced of that.

The insane greed of these movie companies is what pushes people toward piracy especially when you consider that the rise in movie prices (on a percentage scale) has gone up much faster than the rate of inflation or even gasoline prices over the same 10 year span of time.

Let's not get into how imbalanced the prices are in other countries such as the Philippines and China (mothers of all Piracy) where the average ticket price is more than a family spends in groceries for a week but a pirated DVD with 20 films is about half or one third that same price.

It's a no-brainer.

Theater owners: Subsidize the ticket prices with all that extra money that you are raking in with the advertising and you'll see more packed theater houses again. Guaranteed.

It took me an hour to read the complaints to this ever growing alternitive advertising. I own one of those company's! Madison Ave. is looking for alternitive advertising, TV doesn't work anymore with DVR's. I created a digital pre-show that is automated to the movie projector and to the P.O.S. Point of sale system. That is the Box Office screen that you look at and it tells you what time the movie starts.

So, I created this cost effective program that the small mom and pop business can afford to advertise on the silver screen like the big boys do all the time. The only difference is I agree with most of what you are complaining about. My program automatically starts and automatically stops at exactly the advertised start time on the board where you bought your ticket.

Who knows about how the movie industry works? Raise those hands now. How many of you understand where the theatre owner makes their money? Come on now!

Exhibitors are theatre owners, distributors are the studios that pick up a movie for a song and spend the $2,500 per print to send it to every theatre and now 2 to 4 prints are sent.

Well the Exhibitors don't make what you think on a movie, that is why you pay 20 bucks for a popcorn,soda, candy and a movie ticket.

Now the Distributors want to change the industry to Digital movies, 3-D movies, everyone wants a better movie going experience but these digital projectors are very and I mean very expencive. The Exhibitors can't afford $100,000.00 per projector but the distribitors don't want to spend the money either but they are saving big time on each print they don't have to make, ship, ship back and store. A digital movie cost is a dollar.

How many of you know that advertising at the movies was the second form of advertising? Really, Print was 1st then the movies! They had a nickelodean and painted the local butcher, painter, brothel on the side of the glass where the flame showed it on screen during the movie for two bits a month.

This is a very interesting story but for those who want to sue, it has been done! In China first then the US of A! There are still a few around. The Exhibitors love the business, they don't want to offend you, they do need the cash flow. Why do you think they are raising the price?

Google On Screen Movie Advertising lawsuits and read about it. It really is sad, those people that decided not to go to the movies just because they show advertising are missing out on the new golden movie experience! In 3-D Journey to the center of the earth was increadable, now the distributors have at least one 3-D movie a month coming out.

Just the digital experience is something you have to go see. Quit complaining about theatre owners playing advertising 15 minutes past the advertised start time. I guarantee it does not happen anymore! Those lawsuits put a stop to it!

Go see a movie just to get out and see something that has changed. It will either make you smile or it might make you cry, either way it is a new experience.

Thank you for reading this! No Spell Check, sorry

In puerto rico we had to see an average of 25 minutes of ads BEFORE the trailers that runs for like 15 min. The lovely touch is when they repeat the ads, for "Yes, Man" I saw the same ad three times before the movie started.

Coming from someone in the advertising business, all I can say is this: the only way we'll ever NOT see advertising in theaters AFTER the start time is if people stop going to theaters for a while ... and I mean a lot of people. It sucks, but there's just too much money in it.

I own a magazine about beer, wines, spirits, bars and restaurants in Milwaukee, WI. My readers don't mind seeing advertising for beers, wines, spirits, bars or restaurants in my magazine. In fact, they expect it. On some level, I believe, they want it. When people have an interest in a niche, not only does it make sense to advertise a product or service that fits into that niche to those people, it actually helps to grow the end consumers awareness within their interest. That's a good thing.

Likewise, we don't mind advertisements for other movies (trailers) at our shows because those advertisements fit our niche - movie-goers. The problem with general ads being run at movies is that they are general interest, not catered to the movie-goer niche. Most people don't give a damn about what is being advertised at the theaters and, because of that, become irritated by the advertisement.

I think this is problem world wide and why most television and radio advertisements are not only becoming more and more irritating, but also less and less effective.

Great Article!

I couldn't agree more. I pay for a big screen, big sound to see the movie as it was meant to be seen.

One could argue that trailers are ads. Maybe, but I am ready to watch a movie on a big screen so that is no problem at all. In fact, that is on of the reasons I go see a movie premier night. To see the best new trailers.

I DO NOT pay to go see ads. Why should I PAY to see something that was intended to make me want to spend my money?

At home watching TV, I already pay to get cable so I don't think I should have to see the commercials. However I can always mute the TV and not pay attention (what I usally do). I can change the channel and watch something else. I can even get up and do something else while the commercials play. No big deal.

Why am I forced to watch commercials?

I think this article is made of win. Sharing information and media over the internet is the future. If big media giants like VIACOM want to continue to line their pockets with jumbo jets and mega yachts they need to find ways to go with the flow of civilization. The internet will always be free. Even if net neutrality fails the will of intelligent computer scientists will always beat the clout of businessmen.

I don't go to many movies any more but Christ why do I need to know about a movie coming out 2 years from the release of the movie I paid to watch?

As far as the bad seating fear, I just don't go to a movie until its been out for a week or two,so I plan on the ads being in my face. if its a big release I go early just to stay on top of current topics of interest and avoid spoilers by being capable of posting them before others.

But I like pirating more. Better popcorn, Better drinks, and Better Environment, at the cost of maybe a bit of quality and screen size. Then again I am a "typical" consumer, not a critic.

this is a problem in videogames now too.

I'm clearly coming late to this one (having found it in the little list on the right of the screen) and it is likely that one of the 258 comments prior has addressed or mentioned this already but I'll trot my 10c out anyway. :o)

Did anyone else experience the giant ad-fest that preceded "Quantum of Solace" here in Adelaide (South Australia)? My mum and I went to see the movie one afternoon and were disgusted by the nearly 25 minutes of ADVERTS that we were subjected to before the previews of "coming attractions" ran. It was ridiculous. And even worse was that at least two of the ads were basically for the movie we were waiting to see and another ad was actually repeated within 30 seconds of its initial run. So I'm totally in agreement with the suggestion that it is getting out of hand. Here in Australia people actually count on the fact that you can be 15 minutes "late" to a movie and not miss a thing because the ads are likely to only just be finishing.

Isn't it enough that they charge us such over-blown prices for the heated grain and sugar water? Why do they have to steal our time away too?

Enjoyed reading all the posts. I have no problem with the commercials before the movie as long as they are on before schduiled showtime for the most part. Have you been to a baseball or other sporting event, billboards everywhere and ads on the Jumbotron.

To the person who calculated that it adds 7-cents to a ticket, your formula seems to be missing many peices. We call that a fallacy of composition. Since studio contracts take a percentage of the ticket price (90%) a 7-cent increase would only deliver about a penny to the theater. But I don't know where you got your figures for the whole caluculation. 2007 1 biilion tickets were sold in theater with advertising. The industry made about a billion on the advertising. Hence it is a dollar a ticket. In order for the theater to make that up in higher ticket price, they would have to charge $10 dollars more.

Also when you see ads for soda and other snacks sold at the theater, they are ads, many times the same commercial as on TV and guess what, they actually pay for those ads just like any other advertiser. Think about it, you see an ad for coke before the movie, do you really think anyone gets up and then goes and buys one, or did they have it before they saw the ad.

England and had to sit through 35 mins of commercials and trailers before it started..

Are you ready for this? The French go early to make sure they don't miss the ads. I lived there for a year and could NEVER convince my friends to go 20 minutes late to miss the ads. Go figure.

I've honestly never had a problem with the trailers before a movie. They give me a nice look ahead to see what's coming out in more detail than a 30 second commercial on TV. They also give something for me and my friends to whisper about before the movie starts, "that looks awesome," or "that looks like crap" and such, and after the movie is over.