Commercials before the movie...

[Jon B.]

I dislike commercials. I do not watch television, cable or otherwise... except for football. Unfortunately I have an addiction but, I get them back by making certain I have a running dvd loaded. The instant a commercial comes on, I switch to the movie paused waiting for me. I feel much better. Sometimes I forget the football and relax with the movie. Criterion collection, no previews etc, straight to the good stuff.

 

[Florian Stadler]

I make commercials. I think they are an interesting cross between art and commerce. Ideally they would be controversial, thought provoking and inspirational but at the very least entertaining. A portal for the individual to interact with the corporation. Why the hate? Bad creative?

 

[Jon B.]

I make commercials. I think they are an interesting cross between art and commerce. Ideally they would be controversial, thought provoking and inspirational but at the very least entertaining. A portal for the individual to interact with the corporation. Why the hate? Bad creative?

football commercials:

Chevy, Toyota, Ford, Viagra, Lipitor, taco bell, Wendy's, CSI, Heroes,,, the list goes on. I have no need for these things and I don't want them to use my mind as a target.

I can appreciate a good commercial,, actually I admit, I like the Levi's of late. No hate, don't want to be sold something I don't need.

 

[Ketch Rossi]

I tried to see the Michael Jackson movie at a Cinemark theater today, but before the trailers even rolled, I was subjected to over 6 minutes of COMMERCIALS. I'm not talking about the "pre show" nonsense they have been pulling for years. I'm talking about after the time the movie was set to play, but before the trailers, they started playing regular old TV spots for shoes, home repairs, cell phones, etc.



There is no way I'm going to sit through that. I won't even sit through 2 minutes of ads on my TV. Six minutes into this ad barrage (which seemed an eternity), I walked out, found the manager, and asked for my money back.

The theater manager was very sympathetic to my cause. He said, "The studio sends the film to us with those ads bundled, so there is nothing we can do."

"Well you can refuse the movie," was my reply.

The manager was a good guy. He gave me my money back, plus two rain-check tickets.

I don't mind if there is one cine-related ad for Coke, or maybe Shriners hospitals, but from now on I refuse to be subjected to commercials at the theater.

I simpatize with you Tom, and I don't have cable neither do I ever watch news or any kind of programs and or spots, or video clips to were you have to seat it out for the advertisement, and this is why I have always refused to make money by making people watch advertisement clips in any of my Videos.

Having said that, I must say that not only the film Industry but the entire Global Market runs on advertisement, and it will continue to become ever more difficult to avoid the Spots for advertisement in anything form TV, WEB, and soon CINEMA, much more then we are now, and in ways that we have yet to see.

Every were you look there is advertisement, even here on REDUSER, look at all the banners, it is the way of our lives, and we better get used to it, cause is coming stronger the ever, I have been invited to some very aggressive presentations fro Global advertisement agencies, which sucks, but at the end will also offer fantastic Income to many, many of us, in both Still and Motion work.

 

[D'Arcy Foley-Dawson]

as everyone knows, commercialism is here to stay. it is a part of our lives. we live in a consumer economy that relies on advertising to generate profit. i think there's no point in debating this.

the more important question becomes how you choose to relate to this fact. do you 'accept' advertising, or do you try to ignore or reject it. are you with it or against it. or, some sort of third way?

personally i favour the idea that an artist - be they a filmmaker, photographer, graphic designer, etc. - can essentially 'exploit' the advertising industry by using it as a means to obtain an income whilst practicing and improving their craft. get paid to learn, basically.

 

[Stephen Williams]

I make commercials. I think they are an interesting cross between art and commerce. Ideally they would be controversial, thought provoking and inspirational but at the very least entertaining. A portal for the individual to interact with the corporation. Why the hate? Bad creative?

Hi Florian,

Since ads got digital projection in CH (SD), the quality fell to match local TV spots. One of the reasons I went to the cinema was to avoid that garbage. I used to enjoy the big budget spots.

Stephen

 

[Kevin Wild]

I think you guys are missing the point: movie tickets are expensive enough to where we shouldn't need advertising. Tom is right...it is ridiculous. If enough people didn't accept it, it would go away.

 

[Ace]

Its a tough one... Im kind of with Darcy and Ketch. Advertising keeps people employed. Not just in the media industry, but it puts food on the table for hundreds of millions each day.

Every so often I like to help a small business succeed through advertising and branding.. Its pretty powerful stuff. But just as in the Simpsons episode where Lisa kills the advertising monsters by figuring out to "Just dont look", we are seeing actions of everyday consumers follow your same lead, sending advertisers burrowing into our lives deeper than ever than before. I much rather confine them to TV and Print media than my toilet paper. Because goddamit my ass is the only thing I have left.

I strongly believe in advertising supporting small business however. Its why google is so great. The mom and pop operations getting access to sophisticated market reach is important for survival of the great (insert country) dream.

And yes, you pay so much for a ticket. But exhibitors are already struggling to stay open as is, and without diversifying revenue stream, we would see a definite post maturity cessation in the theatrical industry...

A

 

[Kevin Wild]

Ace, just wait...they're coming for your TP next.

Small businesses? Like Coke? ;-)

 

[Ace]

I honestly dont mind Coca-Cola. They spend good money on their spots, and moreover, the primetime spots they buy keep some of our favourite television shows on the air (which would never exist without advertisers support.. think about that)

In Australia, before the movies we have digital spots for local business around the immediate area. Or if its in a shopping mall, some of the small business in the mall. These ads SUCK bigtime. But everyone seems to dig them because we have a somewhat supportive attitude here in Australia of other battling businesses. (Read, I dont think we're clever enough/ too lazy to be cynical yet..)

 

[Danish P.V.]

The movies themselves are stuffed with advertisement and then they want us to watch even more ads??? No! I always show up too "late" for the commercials.

 

[Liam Hall]

Anyone else think the standard of ads is at an all time low? I rarely see anything that leaves a major impression on me. Both creativity and ambition seem to victims of the recession.

 

[Tom Lowe]

If they annoy people enough with these TV commercials at the theater, they will just stay home and watch movies on HBO, Bluray, or pirated Bluray, because that would be the only way to escape the ads.

 

[Tobias Straka]

Guys, consider yourselves lucky - in Switzerland, there's about 15minutes of commercials before the show AND there's a break in the middle of the movie! where you're supposed to go get some ice cream or popcorn or whatever. Takes you out of the movie every time... Argh!

 

[Martin Weiss]

The fun thing with iPhones is that they are self illuminating. You can write on them, or play quick games. Don't have to look at the screen (I always try to avoid trailers, as I hate knowing the story beforehand.)

---

And since we are confessing what annoys us - I really hate it when I buy a DVD, I am first forced to watch a trailer telling me that piracy is illegal, and then often get a menu that gives away part of the story. Ironically, you get nothing of this from downloaded films - not that I would know.

I love those DVDs that offer a simple Play button at the very beginning.

 

[Denis Haineault]

I think the best solution is just to show up late....So, just show up 5 minutes after the movie's supposed to start I guess?

I've been pretty much doing this for years. I aim to arrive at exactly when the movie is supposed to start.

Might miss a trailer or two, but nothing you can't see online.

 

[Tom Lowe]

I've been pretty much doing this for years. I aim to arrive at exactly when the movie is supposed to start.

Might miss a trailer or two, but nothing you can't see online.

This is also my strategy. But in this case, I showed up about 2 minutes late, and that's when the commercials began. So I am going to have to show up ten minutes late, I guess. Or 25 minutes late if I want to skip the trailers and commercials. 25 minutes??

 

[Jeff Coatney]

Tom, I stand with you in boycotting Cinemark Theatres. First there were the slides that were misspelled, now they're full-on spots-- So lame. They don't do that at the Arclight.

 

[Omar Saad]

I think you guys are missing the point: movie tickets are expensive enough to where we shouldn't need advertising. Tom is right...it is ridiculous. If enough people didn't accept it, it would go away.

I agree 100%. My local theater has raised prices 3 times in the past 18 months, now $10.50 per ticket. I understand that this is typical when paying for a non-matinee, but the theater has not made any upgrades. No stadium seating, a couple of screens have some intermittent speakers, dim lamps, etc. You complain (which I have) but nothing happens because they're all part-time employees, college kids. I understand that this is anecdotal but I suspect that this is a pretty common situation in many theaters.

I also understand that everyone has a different take and that the commercials are many peoples bread and butter. But speaking strictly from the perspective of a consumer, I want to feel that what I'm getting for my money is worth it. I know some say that we should just accept it and that there s nothing that can be done about it. I would say, however, that if you keep taking away from the "specialness" (I know not a real word) of the theatrical experience, the majority of people absolutely will spend their money somewhere else. And this is coming from someone who loves the theatrical experience.

 

[Frank Cueto]

You guys are sissies!!!!

In Puerto Rico we get about 30MINUTES od advertising before the movie starts!!!

meh...