by: David Polinchock
Wow. Now this is taking a stand. You can actually print a sign for your seat that says:
"This patron is avoiding cinema advertising and will return when the feature begins."
This is a great example of the advertising backlash and how the consumer will continue to react to all of the advertising interruptions in their world. Of course, this may have happened on a small, regional basis in the past, the internet allows this to become a global movement. And, as we've seen just recently with the number of ads pulled after the Super Bowl, the people can be heard today!
Given the financial impact that pre-movie ad sales is having on the theatre business, I'm not sure where this will end up, but at least people will be able to express their annoyance at the continue assault of advertising.
An Open Letter to Regal Cinemas and other theater owners:
This is the last straw. You've done a great job conditioning the movie-going public to accept pre-movie billboard ads, your commercial theater radio networks, and nearly every other form of commercialism under the sun. Now, after the lights go down and we're entrenched in our seats, you've decided to expand into pushing TV commercials. It now seems the only difference between a movie screen and a TV screen is size.
We, the captive audience, have had enough.
TV commercials belong on television, not before movies that we pay for.
Movies have traditionally served as an escape from the real world. The movie theater was a portal into different perspectives on the world around us, and sometimes into worlds completely different than our own, be they past, present or future. The motion picture projector no longer serves to promote the business of escapism (as is the case with theatrical trailers), but now is seen as the last resort for advertisers to truly force feed the public video games and SUVs.
CaptiveAudience.org has one primary goal: to urge theater owners to discontinue showing invasive, TV-like commercials before the beginnings of movies. Because many theater chains have a practical monopoly on first-run movies in many areas of the country, we consider these practices to be unfair and intolerable.
CaptiveAudience.org will endeavor to serve as an information center and voice for movie-goers, focused on conveying the clear dissatisfaction audiences have with the movie viewing experience directly to the heads of Regal Entertainment Group and other theater owners engaged in these practices. We hope to show TV-like advertising before movies is well past the line of 'ad-creep', is unprofitable, and will lead to a consumer backlash.
Thank you for your time and attention in this matter.
Link: CMPAA | Stop Pre-Movie Commercials! – Theater ads..
Original Post: http://blog.brandexperiencelab.org/experience_manifesto/2007/02/cmpaa_stop_prem.html
