For three reasons I was struck by the ads preceding a showing of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at the George St Odeon in Oxford exactly one week ago. First, they began at exactly the time the show was listed to begin. I’m used to theaters that pitch to and entertain early arrivals, at least with a bit of movie trivia.
Second, the ads were abysmal. A week later I still feel the twisting in my stomach that I mostly had associated with Full House reruns. Most of the ads were bookended by an acknowledgment to some agency that had presumably bid for the right to the screen time and compiled the ads to show. If I were Odeon, I wouldn’t want to immiserate my consumers like that– I would want to keep control of the content.
Third, the ads went on for a full half hour despite (here’s the kicker) the fact that all tickets were for reserved seats. US theaters typically induce moviegoers to watch pre-movie ads by dangling the carrot of a better seat for the main feature. If you dare to try to arrive late and skip the ads, you may find yourself craning your neck from the front row. But next time I’ll know to buy my reserved seat ahead of time and confidently show up half an hour late.
All of this does provoke a question. I made the mistake of showing up on time because I don’t go to the movies all that often (though slightly more often than Professor Jones appears!). But how can this advertising structure persist?
- If typical moviegoers like the ads more than me, one would expect the ads to start before the film’s scheduled start time.
- Perhaps the ads are intended to be so bad as to cause people to wait in the lobby, where temptations of course abound. But then I don’t see why people with reserved seats would arrive on time.
- Or, more hopefully, perhaps the awful ads make the movies themselves seem better. Then with small costs for running the projector, the ads might begin only at the scheduled time, and people might come on time to watch them.
The third bullet is the only explanation that sticks for me so far– and it requires that British moviegoers prefer Indiana Jones preceded by half an hour of drivel to Indiana Jones alone. Plausible? Not impossible…
