JUST SAY NO (to pre-movie ads)

[TheFamilyMan]

I've noticed at our local cinema complex that some people do indeed purposefully come in "late", since it's usually a good 15 minutes of ads and previews before the film starts. Unfortunately, it is not a reliable strategy since usually for the late comers the remaining seats are rather poor. So even if the "actual" start time were to be published, I'll still get there early and get a good seat and chat with my friends, wife, kids, etc., or get snacks during those 15 minutes. I enjoy the movie theater experience. It cannot be recreated at home IMHO. If commercials keep the theaters open and their costs under control, that's OK with me (up to a limit though).

[ViRaL1]

Not that I want to give hollywood any ideas, but I still say that if there were smart, they'd put the ads between the previews and the movies. As it stands now, I still get to the show on time. I just use the advertising time to make my snack run.

[BJ_M]

a lot of product placement you dont even notice unless its pointed out to you --

the cars, furniture, clothes, watches (big thing), food, shoes, cell phones, music , toys , electronic equipment , computers (also big thing), entertainment equipment , companies , travel groups and on and on .. even locations ..

[AlecWest]

In the end though, don't you think something WOULD be taken out if those advertising dollars were lost?

Imagine for a moment you went to the Louvre Museum in Paris to view the Mona Lisa ... and when you got there, you saw the painting altered so that Mona was clutching a small purse with the Gucci label on it ... something you knew the creator did not have in mind. If the Louvre Museum forced advertising to become part of its exhibits, the museum would become a place (in my opinion) not worth visiting ... even if the ads made the admission price cheaper.

In-film advertising opened up a Pandora's Box that should have never been opened. If the film's creator had no such thing in mind, it would sully his/her art no less than a Gucci bag would diminish the value of seeing the Mona Lisa. In street language, it would be like saying I'd sell you a roast beef sandwich for half price ... if you let me piss on it first.

[ViRaL1]

We all know there's no Gucci purse in the Mona Lisa, so if we saw it we'd all know there was something wrong. If we saw a movie that was supposed to be in the 20s and there was a scene at McDonald's we'd know there was something wrong. If the product placement doesn't fit and it detracts from the story I agree it shouldn't be there, but how does just having random product placement take away from the film as long as it fits?

[BJ_M]

".... product placement take away from the film as long as it fits?"


i dont think it is a problem .... maybe in a very few cases like "The Wizard", which is a two hour long advertisement for Nintendo

[AlecWest]

We all know there's no Gucci purse in the Mona Lisa, so if we saw it we'd all know there was something wrong.

True ... but the reason we all know about it is because we've all seen it before any alteration was done. As BJ_M said:

a lot of product placement you dont even notice unless its pointed out to you

I realize I'm being picky about this (grin). But, I guess it's just my nature. I remember back in the 60s that some airport executive got tired of Hare Krishna chanters in his airport and said (in an interview), "I won't land planes in their church if they don't preach in my airport." I can sympathize with that viewpoint (from a writer's perspective) and think that most screenplay writers would agree ... saying, "I won't stage screenplays in your restaurant if you don't sell hamburgers in my screenplay."

[dphirschler]

It not that they are drinking "Pepsi" instead of "cola", it's the fact that everytime they pick up that can, the label is always prominantly visible... which is just fake. I can hang out with my friends all day long and watch them drink whatever they drink and not think a thing about it. But everytime an actor does it in a movie, the label is always facing me. He's NOT drinking his soda pop, he is advertising to me. It pisses me off.


Darryl

[Feslmogh]

In a theater where I work, we use the digital 20(Twenty). It starts +/- 20 mins BEFORE the actual film time (e.g. If the film starts @ 2:00 pm, the digitgal projector starts 20 min before it starts.) The twenty usually consisits of ads (of course), behind the scenes interviews of upcoming tv shows, dvd, and theatrical movies, Cartoon Network clips and intersitals, the policy trailer and after that the movie starts.