- Bad Street Vendors
- The Art of the Rip-Offs
- Monopolies
- Street Cable… Why Pay More?
- Street Shopping…
- Street Entrepreneurs
- Outta Gas
- Commercialized Insanity
- The Anti-Pre-Movie Commercial Movement
While researching for my article on why I loathe pre-movie commercials at the movie theatre I found this site. This helps to confirm that movie lovers are pissed with these intrusions on our movie experience and want an end to it now. There is also a petition going on – over 3000 strong. Will there be an immediate change, possible not. However, it’s better to get the word out than just sit in a corner mumbling to yourself.
So here’s an open letter from CMPAA (Captive Motion Picture Audience of America) to Regal Cinemas & other theater owners:
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.
Sincerely,
The Captive Motion Picture Audience of America
www.captiveaudience.org
There was back & forth chatter between the organization and Regal Cinemas that can be found here. Some of the chatter is also posted below:
Apparently Regal Cinemas decided to respond to the complaint about commercials with, what else…. a commercial….
Response from Kurt Hall, President and CEO, Regal CineMedia
—–Original Message—–
From: Kurt Hall
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2003 8:06 AM
To: ‘’
Cc: Lauren Leff
Subject: FW: Letter to Jason Thompson – captiveaudience.orgDear Mr. Thompson,
Dick Westerling forwarded your recent email to me. I oversee Regal CineMedia, the media subsidiary of Regal Entertainment Group (REG) and I’m glad you took the time to write to us about your recent experience at our Hillsboro theatre.
It is clear that you and others have had a less than satisfying experience viewing pre-feature advertising over the years. As you know, the pre-show program in theatres has for many years been dominated by static slide advertising, which is primarily local in nature with somewhat low production quality, and a selection of national advertisements that were produced for television. All of us here at Regal Entertainment agree that the pre-feature slide and rolling stock television advertising that is traditionally shown in theatres across the country is in need of improvement from a quality, as well as an entertainment standpoint. In fact, that is one of the reasons why we have invested so heavily in a new digital technology network and higher-quality digital projection equipment for our theatres nationwide.
The technology we are in the process of installing reaching about 80% of REG’s screens nationwide improves the sight and sound of our pre-show presentation, delivering a significant improvement from the pre-feature advertising that is typically shown in most theatres. Since the spring of 2002, we have been updating our theatres with this new technology and one of the benefits is our improved pre-show program, which we’ve named The 2wenty. As you experienced, The 2wenty is a combination of short-form, original entertainment segments, interspersed with high quality national advertising, which in most cases is made for the cinema.
The pre-show is designed to begin approximately 20 minutes before the advertised show time and is currently available in 20 markets in over 200 theatres reaching approximately 2,500 screens, including our theatres in the Portland metropolitan area. The 2wenty ends at about advertised show time and is followed by the movie studios’ previews and feature film presentation. Currently our technical team is installing new digital technology across the U.S. in one theatre every day, six days a week, converting approximately 60 screens per week.
Just as is the case with films, the key to our success, is the creativity and entertainment value of the presentation. Our main focus is to create a more entertaining pre show program for our early arriving patrons. To that end, we are working very closely with our content partners, advertisers and agencies to significantly improve the quality of what is shown in theatres prior to the trailers and feature presentation. In effect, we are creating a new “canvas” for the creative community to paint on.
As our patrons begin to understand The 2wenty segments will change each month, with certain content and ads changing more frequently, we are hopeful our new pre-show will be something that patrons plan to arrive early to view, if they so desire. We are continually conducting independent surveys through third party researchers to get feedback from our patrons on how The 2wenty is being received and we are using that information to improve the program as we move forward.
In addition to distributing The 2wenty, Regal’s new digital network also allows for the programming of alternative events in movie theatres. In recent months, Regal has multicast live concert events with artists such as Korn, Tom Petty and Grammy Award-winning rock band Third Day to multiple theatre locations across the country. A live, simulcast of a college football game was also distributed last fall in High Definition to fans at select theatres, as well as the red carpet premiere event for the recent Jennifer Lopez movie, “Maid in Manhattan.” Most recently, a live, national “virtual classroom” event for 3,300 students and educators with Academy Award-winning director James Cameron and actor Bill Paxton was recently held in 13 theatre locations across the country, including two locations in the Portland area, to discuss the filmmaker’s new underwater 3D IMAX adventure, “Ghosts of the Abyss.”
The most influencing factor in switching to this new format has been the advances in digital technology that are changing and will continue to change the entertainment industry. We have been undergoing this transformation since early 2002 and at this point, we have plans in place to continuing installing new digital technology in Regal Entertainment Group theatres throughout first quarter of 2004, ultimately reaching over 400 locations and approximately 5,000 screens.
Regal is committed to improving the entertainment value in our theatres and I hope you will come early to view upcoming installments of The 2wenty. I am confident you will continue to see an enhancement over what is typically seen on most theatre screens. Please feel free to continue to let us know what you think or give us suggestions on how we might improve. Like any new technology or business paradigm, our digital pre show presentation will continue to evolve over time. As such, any feedback you could give us would be helpful.
Sincerely,
Kurt Hall
Despite all that the mainstream theatres say about caring how the consumers feel, they still find a greater need to keep shareholders happy and well financed. I’ll take this as a cue to keep shit moving, voice my thoughts, but let my dollars do the shouting as they become even more absent from the pockets of theatre owners.
Get ‘em where their nerve system resides – their wallets.
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