Stacey Ferdinands has honed her movie-going experience into a refined science. Timing each show to the minute — and avoiding pre-show commercials and previews — helped the movie lover catch 298 films last year.
But that task grows ever more challenging for Ferdinands and other moviephiles who clamor for new releases. Advertisers such as Coca-Cola and Cingular Wireless are also flocking to theaters — swapping quick-hit slides with 30-second, 60-second and even two-minute commercials.
“You’re kind of like a hostage,” said Ferdinands. She occasionally walks to the lobby until the movie starts.
While cinema ads have been around since the 1980s, in the last few years they have become more widespread — and more sophisticated. The Cinema Advertising Council estimates that cinema advertising revenues have been expanding by more than 30 percent annually.
Nationally, about 26,000 of the roughly 30,000 movie screens show commercials, according to the CAC.
For advertisers, theaters provide a new way to reach elusive customers who’ve grown accustomed to using the Internet, commercial-free cable television and video recorders such as TiVo to bypass commercials on television. The practice is gaining steam because companies can target a coveted demographic: the young and affluent, said Matthew Kearney, chairman of the council, which tracks the growing industry.
Another benefit for advertisers: Their target audience has been conveniently grouped based on movie ratings. Now products for children appear in G and PG-rated movies, PG-13 and R movies get more adult-oriented items.
Ticket sales are not enough to sustain theater owners, said Cliff Marks, president of marketing and sales for Regal CineMedia. Only a few years ago, most major theater chains were either struggling or bankrupt, but they have been saved in part by this new medium. Regal has even packaged its pre-show production into 20 minutes of ads, short films and music, labeled “The 2wenty.”
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But this often leaves moviegoers feeling cheated out of their time and money.
“When I have to pay between $6 and $8 per person to see a movie, I shouldn’t have to be subjected to this commercialism — not on videotapes, not on DVDs and certainly not at a movie theater,” said Linda Thompson.
Stephen Leonard has resorted to more drastic measures. “It’s real simple. I no longer go to movie theaters. Period,” he said.
Gary Ruskin, executive director of the anti-commercialism group Commercial Alert, says moviegoers now feel betrayed. The theater was a safe space in an ad-soaked world, he said.