Ads … Ads … Everywhere Ads

Last night I saw After Innocence (which everyone should see, it’s fantastic) at The Quad Cinema, a small art house in New York that played Deadline back when we had our teeny tiny theatrical run. I really wanted to support this film because many of the folks who do criminal justice work that supported Deadline were giving this film a big push. Plus, the film makes the most compelling argument for compensation after exoneration I’ve ever seen. I really think that more legislators need to see this film to get educated about the growing number of wrongful convictions and the need compensation for the exonerated. (So you know, only 19 states compensate people after they have been released from prison for a crime they did not commit. Of those 19, only a handful gives you any amount of money that you can really rebuild your life with. Learn more about this at The Life After Exoneration Program site. I will not rant much more about this here.)

Anyway, I was excited to sit with my popcorn and finally, finally go to a movie without 20 minutes of ads before the film. I was sadly mistaken.

The Quad, yes even the Quad, had two ads before the film, better than most but still upsetting. I was a bit annoyed. It seems that there is no peace for advertising even in a theatre like this one. It is getting ridiculous.

The first moment that I acknowledged my annoyance with this was when I went to the United Artists Union Square Cinemas, which is a total zoo! I went to see Good Night and Good Luck (which was also fantastic! Yes, it is propaganda but you know McCarthyism was bad. Those trials were nothing more than the Salem Witch Trials and I just don’t think there is another side to that story.) I have this false assumption that because I am seeing an arty film, that my movie going experience should be classier in some way. Oh no.

Instead, I sat through 20, yes t-w-e-n-t-y minutes of ads from Coca-Cola to cellphones to Moviephone.com (which I won't even link to here because they get ENOUGH press). Afterwards, there was a final commercial that was a commercial for the series of commercials you were watching. They were trying to convince you that these 20 minutes were like the pre-movie shows that our parents and grand parents used to watch when movies were all day affairs. Um … those 20 minutes are not programming, they’re ads and it’s getting out of control.

I understand that movie theaters have to stay in business, especially since the box office is doing so badly. But we all know that if the movies were a little bit better and cheaper, more folks would actually go! Plus, commercials before the movie just make staying home and watching a DVD all the more appealing.

Advertisers are more aggressive than ever about getting into your psyche. A story on NPR talked about how television programmers are not even putting any original programming on Saturday nights anymore because advertisers do not think that people make decisions about the things they are going to buy before Friday and see no point in buying ad space on shows that have low ratings. This is why Thursday is such a big night. Advertisers see that night as the night that they can get through to a large audience to buy, buy, buy Saturday and Sunday.

So what to do? You could not go to the movies but that is not realistic or fair for that matter. You could get to the movie later, after the ads, but then you get bad seats. Honestly, I am at a loss. I know there must be a movement a foot on this so let me know about it. I am finally moved to action.

Comments

[Berry]

I agree...no one likes sitting through ads in the theater...even the previews for upcoming releases irk me now. Back in the day we had cartoons run before the movie (yes, I am old enough to remember that.)

[David Jacobs]

Angela laments the arrival of ads even at art-house cinemas in Manhattan. I cannot express how sad and angry this makes me. This also angers our friend Finn. "The 20" makes me want to explode.

How ironic is it that because we have DVR/Tivo you're more likely to see more ads while waiting for a movie than in a week of watching TV?

[maura]

I remember being shocked by all of the ads pre-movie time in European cinemas. (So many years ago!)

But, when I was in France -- I really appreciated the fact that they gave you 2 different start times for the film.
1. the start time for the beginning of the ads pre-film.
2. the start time for the actual film.

I thought I heard somewhere along the line that this practice was going to start here -- has it already started? Or am I dead wrong about that one?