How to stop movie theatres from showing commercials?

It kills me. The movie theater near my house is always really busy and if I go with five or six friends we have to go early so we can all sit together. But in the half an hour that someone has to be in the room to hold the seats – that person (often me) is subjected to an unrelenting barrage of commercial advertising. Everything from soft drinks and confectioneries (available at concession) or clothing, video games, travel destinations, life insurance, real estate brokerages and even cars!

The movie theater should be the last bastion of commercial free entertainment. We have paid our money and now we should be able to enjoy an ad free environment. But how do we stop it?

How do we say enough is enough? No more commercials! BOOO!!!!

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Mongol is the historical epic that Oliver Stone's Alexander tried to be.

You don't stop it. You bend over and accept the injustice.

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Bring an MP3 player and some nightshades.

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You could bring in a hand held laser pointer and play

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Commercial free, a movie theater?

If you're serious in wanting you're theater to stop showing unwanted ads, talk to the head office. Not the managers in the theater itself. Although that might not even do anything, that's who to go to. I know its a pain in the ass when you pay to see a film, and you see shi!?y advertisements. We don't pay for commercials, we are there for the motion picture.....period.

You pay for cable, but see commercials there. You pay for the newspaper, but you see advertisements there. Just because you're paying for something does not mean you're free from advertisements/commercialism. Don't forget that companies have to pay for production fees, and advertisements is one of the best ways to do so.

Movie theaters werent't always doing this. It's not like I accept this like you do.

What about arthouse or indi theatres ... they would probably show less if any commercials.

Are there any near you?

No.

And unwanted posts!!

What do you mean by that??

I was just offering another option for you to explore that would enable you to enjoy a movie viewing without getting bombarded by those irritating commercials.

Cos you are not going to change the commercial structure of the cinema complex.

Anyway I won't bother you again

Cinemas are businesses after all, out to maximise profits for their shareholders, they're not there cos they love films. When the amount of adverts start putting people off going to the cinema thus reducing revenue , only then will it change.

You said are there any by me and I said no. Stifle yourself will ya?

Hey jrs, isn't that a little uncalled for? Ferntree was only trying to be helpful and he's only just joined the boards too. Your posts are very confrontational in answer to a mild question.

Ok. How about...No, there is not an arthouse or indie theatre. Is that better?

I don't what part of no is hard to understand. I don't get it.

I reacted to the 'unwanted posts' comment ... that was the unnecessary and somewhat childish part that was unwarrented.

it doesn't bother me.... me and my friends just sit there and talk - I mean what is the cinema suspose to show before the trailers anywayz - just a blank screen.....

jeez little things bother the hell out of some people lol

Stop ads in movie theaters? How unAmerican, nice to meet you comrade...

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We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...

This is the funny thing. Back before I was born, they'd give you a cartoon, a newsreel, coming attractions, a double feature, and sometimes even a promotional item, such as a cup or plate. Plus, if it wasn't a first run film, it would be cheap to get in (under a dollar for adults at night). When I was growing up, we didn't have newsreels, but we'd still get a cartoon and coming attractions, and yes, the screen would be blank because they wanted you to go out and buy goodies from the concession stands. I can still remember being dropped off by my parents at the walk-in theatre, and my brother and I could get in the movie and buy popcorn, sodas and candy for $2 total.

Obviously, as production costs go up and competing technologies give you different ways to view movies, the theatres have to charge higher prices and find other ways to generate revenue, so they started "selling time" to local advertisers or putting up "canned programs" in between the movie screenings. This only started last decade. Now, even more recently, you're getting actual commercials.

I don't really like it, but I rarely have to put up with it because I don't go out to the theatre as much as I have in the past because coordinating a time when the entire family wants to go is difficult. When we do go, we probably don't go opening weekend more than five times a year, and there are several theatres nearby, so I can either pick up the tickets in advance, or arrive at about the scheduled matinee time of the screening. With the 15 minutes of coming attractions, we can still get in on time, and we miss the commercials. We like to sit near the front of the theatre, so unless it's a built-in cult movie, we can always find seats together.

Sorry if this doesn't address the fact directly about what to do about the commercials for anyone else besides my family. I realize if you want to go more often or at night opening weekends or like to sit further back or only have one theatre near you, this probably won't work for you. I don't think the commercials are going away anytime soon. I just hope the theatres stick around so that there will always be a communal moviegoing experience which seems larger than life.

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