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Topic: Fox Article on Pre-Show Ads

Dennis Benjamin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1445
From: Denton, MD
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 07-08-2004 01:35 PM

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,124621,00.html

quote:

Movie Theater Madness
Friday, July 02, 2004
By Neil Cavuto

Have any of you been to a movie theater lately? It's ridiculous. It's out of control. And no, I'm not talking Michael Moore's film. I'm not even talking about films, period.

I'm talking about the commercials!

They're everywhere and they're over the top: too long, too many, too much.

Movie theaters say they need them to defray the cost of tickets for the viewing public. That's a lie. That's a bold-faced lie. I don't know about you but my ticket prices aren't getting cheaper!

It’s a lie as bad as the one that says a show is going to start at 8 p.m. No, what these sniveling, phony, ticket-pushing pimps don't tell you is that it's the "commercials" that start at 8 p.m. Once you get past them and the previews, you're looking at 8:15 p.m. — at the earliest!

Look, I have no problem with advertising. But in places and on shows where I expect it. Not theaters, where I do not and, I think, where I "should not."

Look, I know theater owners have to make money. But guys, you have to try something more novel: the truth!

I'll tell you what. If you argue these commercials are defraying your costs, give us a choice: Pay more for a movie with the commercials, or less for a movie without them.

I dare you. I dare you to be honest and not the sneaky worms so many of you theater chains have become.

Maybe some moviegoers will happily endure the ads for a better price on a flick. Maybe some will just tell you to flick off.

But it will be their choice, not yours.

Watch Neil Cavuto weekdays at 4 p.m. ET on "Your World with Cavuto."

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 07-08-2004 01:49 PM

What a whiner. "Sniveling, phony, ticket-pushing pimps?" "Sneaky worms?" What an idiot. Ten to one this guy yaks on his cell phone during the show.

It would be an interesting experiment, though, to have a no-commercials auditorium with a dollar-higher ticket price. I'd bet a month's worth of popcorn sales that 90% of people would not give up the extra buck and that the cheaper auditorium would ALWAYS sell out first. In the big picture, WHO CARES about a few commercials as long as they're not interrupting the movie?

Now when the movie stops in the middle for commercials, THEN he'll have something to gripe about.

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Steve Scott
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1300
From: Minneapolis, MN
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 07-08-2004 01:56 PM

I assume the article is referring to pre-show ads based on film, not the slides.

Yet it wouldn't surprise me if they were confusing digital on-screen advertising with stuff like coke, moviefone, pepsi, etc... [Frown]

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Ryan Luby
Film Handler

Posts: 70
From: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Registered: Jun 2004

posted 07-08-2004 02:05 PM

Nobody looks forward to commercials, obviously, but they really aren't that big of a deal. Most of them are 30 second blips that you don't even have to watch. Take advantage of that time to do a quick bathroom run or get some popcorn.

I agree, Mike, that the cheaper screen with commercials would almost always do better. It's not like the commercials are 20 minutes or something.

Quit whining and enjoy the film.

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Brian Michael Weidemann
Expert cat molester

Posts: 944
From: Costa Mesa, CA United States
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 07-08-2004 02:33 PM

This was published? The guy probably thinks he's a good writer (he starts two "paragraphs" in a row with "Look ...", for cryin' out loud!!!), but this isn't half as introspective, and not nearly as clever, as something I would hear ad-libbed by anyone I knew in a ranting mood. This is worse than any rant anyone HERE could post on this message board!

"8:15 at the earliest"? This is NOTHING, and he's using it as an exaggeration. Besides, this point of view is nothing new. Join the club! And we all WORK for the darned theatres!

And the best quip to end on is "flick off"? It speaks for itself, really.

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Mike Spaeth
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1129
From: Marietta, GA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 07-08-2004 02:40 PM

This wasn't a published article. This was one of Neil Cavuto's "Common Sense" talks at the end of his "Your World" show. Simply an op-ed piece. The tone of it is much in line with his usual.

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Brian Michael Weidemann
Expert cat molester

Posts: 944
From: Costa Mesa, CA United States
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 07-08-2004 02:47 PM

Well, the FOX"News" website decided to publish it after the fact. And, besides, I think it's insulting when someone spells out Common Sense to his viewers. No wonder I stopped watching television.

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Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays

Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 07-08-2004 03:21 PM

I love Cavuto

quote:
This was published? The guy probably thinks he's a good writer (he starts two "paragraphs" in a row with "Look ...", for cryin' out loud!!!)

Yeah, what Mike said. That's a transcript of the guy talking.

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Steve Scott
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1300
From: Minneapolis, MN
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 07-08-2004 03:28 PM

How about everybody quits whining about trailers and advertisements, and starts demanding less films that waste production and ticket costs to create unoriginal or cliched [bs]

and call it art. [Roll Eyes]

"That's the problem with the American cinema... no complexity"
-White Goodman Dodgeball

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Ken Lackner
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1907
From: Atlanta, GA, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 07-08-2004 04:00 PM

quote: Neil Cavuto
I'll tell you what. If you argue these commercials are defraying your costs, give us a choice: Pay more for a movie with the commercials, or less for a movie without them.

Um....yeah. Why would I want to may more for a movie with commercials? I think he's got it bass ackwards.

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Eric Hooper
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 532
From: Fort Worth, TX, USA
Registered: May 2003

posted 07-08-2004 04:18 PM

quote: Ryan Luby
It's not like the commercials are 20 minutes or something.

You obviously haven't been to LCE Metreon here in SF...They are the worst violator with their commercials running between 15-20 minutes, before the movie previews. I'm not joking!

quote:
to have a no-commercials auditorium with a dollar-higher ticket price...people would not give up the extra buck and that the cheaper auditorium would ALWAYS sell out first.

Not here in SF. The non-commercial auditorium would sell more tickets. It would be similar to like how the ArcLight charges $14 for the 'experience', and gets it. We'd gladly give up commercials here. They're boo-ed and yelled at at every showing, with people yelling out "Can we see the f'ing movie now MF's!"

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Ryan Luby
Film Handler

Posts: 70
From: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Registered: Jun 2004

posted 07-08-2004 04:34 PM

Wow that's horrid..I retract my statement. Ours last about 3 minutes, max, depending on what the rating of the movie is.

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Eric Hooper
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 532
From: Fort Worth, TX, USA
Registered: May 2003

posted 07-08-2004 04:43 PM

3 minutes would not be a problem. 3 minutes would be like heaven compared to what we get now-a-days. It's just gone too far. Movies scheduled at 8pm not even starting until 8:30.... And then your popcorn bag, drink cup, drink lid, chair, toilet seat in the restroom, all have advertising on them all too now.

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Carl Martin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1424
From: Oakland, CA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 07-08-2004 04:56 PM

i always thought the urinal "liners" that read "say no to drugs" were amusing. as for onscreen commercials, "we are not amused". hell, i can't even stand most movie trailers.

carl

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Ryan Luby
Film Handler

Posts: 70
From: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Registered: Jun 2004

posted 07-08-2004 04:59 PM

Our urinal hanging has a cool one about Dodgeball..the actual game, not the movie. I'm trying to get the crew to form a team and join a league but it's not working out too well. [Frown]

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