In our society, we are bombarded by commercials and advertisements on a daily basis. If YouTube, TV, Facebook and Internet radio haven’t accosted a person’s everyday life, just going to work or school supplies enough advertisement overload to make any observant person want to return to the stone age.
Yet the one place that should offer some sanctity has fallen victim to the pressures of advertising: movie theaters. One of the best parts of sitting down in a theater is knowing that for roughly two hours, a person won’t be unwillingly distracted by the outside world. Well, this notion is history and it’s not just irritating the public, it has taken its toll on the movie entertainment business.
“Movie theater ads are out of control and history hasn’t been kind to businesses that insult their customers,” said Los Angeles-based media expert Michael Levine in a January 2012 article written by Fox News reporter Hollie McKay.
In the new world of TiVo, Netflix and other commercial-free viewing options, people have become ever more introverted knowing that the cheaper option without commercial interruption is to wait for movies to be released on DVD and simply view them at home, in their own atmosphere, which probably includes a better surround sound system and HD quality.
The proof was shown in 2011 when ticket sales were the lowest they have been since 1996.
McKay reported, “In 2010, sales were off 5.2 percent from the previous year and in 2011 the numbers fell a further 4.7 percent. Could it be that the ever-evolving number of ads and trailers are detracting from the cinema experience?”
Many blame the recession and economic standing of our country for the decline in ticket sales, but the film industry and theater corporations really need to consider not only what viewers want, but what they aren’t willing to deal with.
When attending a movie, obnoxious kids with nerf guns have no business being between movie trailers and no, thank you, a Diet Coke does not define my experience at the movies.
What the audience wants is to have a good time out of the house without advertisement paparazzi assaulting them everywhere they look.
Before the big-wig movie corporations know it, the encroachment of advertisements will push viewers away for good.
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