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595 Comments
- ohanon, on 11/10/2007, -2/+461LEELA: Didn't you have ads in the twentieth century?
FRY: Well, sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio... and in magazines... and movies, and at ballgames, and on buses, and milk cartons, and T-shirts, and bananas, and written in the sky. But not in dreams, no sirree. - Joab, on 10/21/2007, -8/+298Agree. WTF should I spend $10s for a ticket $8 for a tub of popcorn and $7 for a liter of cola then have to sit through a Coke commercial.
Seriously how is there any justification for these high costs and ***** movies - format, on 10/21/2007, -5/+273Kinda shocked that the time equates to 24 hours a year, and that's by his conservative estimates.
I can recall many time I've gone the cinema and seen ads for more than 15 minutes. - carbbomb, on 11/08/2007, -11/+204Better logic: Its okay to pirate movies cause they pirate your time.
*Fires up bit-torrent* - wageslaven, on 10/21/2007, -51/+240Two issues here, is it the MPAA adding the commercials or is it the theater owners? I believe it is the latter. But I may be wrong.
Secondly, being that Steve Jobs is the largest shareholder of MPAA / RIAA copyright zealot Disney Corporation, and sits on its board. And that he is clearly using Apple to extend their distribution monopoly into the digital age via itunes, ipod, iphone and itv; perhaps the digg cult might come to see itself in the mirror: The RIAA / MPAA *is* Apple (Steve Jobs) for practical purposes.. - henrikc, on 11/08/2007, -3/+160The worst thing is the stupid anti-piracy ads.
If I buy a movie, I want to see it instantly, not sit there and watch a stupid ad for a couple of minutes, THEN start watching. Otherwise I would just download it, and see it instantly WITHOUT the ads. - heartcoldfusion, on 10/21/2007, -4/+138A++ Post. Would read again.
- terrplane, on 11/10/2007, -2/+128What I can't stand are commercials in my DVDs.
I paid to watch THIS movie, not your ***** drivel you're trying to tack onto it. - bdbr, on 11/10/2007, -1/+111It irritates me more that I am forced to sit through FBI and Interpol warnings on DVDs that I've *bought*, and I'm not even allowed to skip past them. A little ironic that only a bootlegged DVD would be without the warning, isn't it?
- Godlike, on 10/22/2007, -18/+112I do not go to theaters anymore for this very reason. I don't watch TV or things on the internet that have commercials, I won't shop at a store that has them, and I won't go to a theater. I also don't miss much, with bittorrent I watch the few shows that I like (or on tv links) and movies well, thats pretty simple too.
I hate commercials and commercialism in general and more than any of that I hate the attitude that every god damn thing should have a commercial attached to it and that it's "ok" for it to be that way.
Corporate America does not have the right to constantly interrupt my life or my thoughts just because I might want to buy something. - geoken, on 10/19/2007, -4/+90I'll just go download some movies and we'll call it even.
- nephari, on 10/29/2007, -1/+78I think the point he was trying to make is that they play the commercials after the advertised start time of the movie (effectively wasting your time and money).
- NATOuk, on 11/08/2007, -1/+64Don't you see the brilliance? You buy a legitimate DVD, pop it into your DVD player to be forced to watch an ad about how bad it is to 'steal' movies, just like the one you just purchased legitimately! Preaching to the Choir eh? In fact, the only effect this ad will have is to make people irritated enough to just pirate a movie next time in order to avoid the stupid ad.
Whoever came up with the idea of putting anti-piracy ads on legitimate products ought to be fired for stupidity... - Gauthic, on 07/09/2008, -2/+60Liter-O-Cola? Do we make liter-o-cola?
;) - zensequential, on 10/19/2007, -1/+59the more popular/anticipated the movie is, the longer the previews and commercials are.... I remembered I went to the LOTR 3rd installment 30 minutes late into the theater and was able to sit down just in time for the movie to roll out
- bshock, on 10/21/2007, -1/+58Commercials before movies were one of the major factors informing my decision to stop seeing all Hollywood products last year.
Well, that, and the fact that all Hollywood products were insultingly stupid. - OaklandNative, on 10/21/2007, -0/+55There's also those awesome unskippable ads at the beginning of some DVDs. I wonder how much time I've wasted watching those.
- blackmage439, on 10/19/2007, -1/+51When I started reading this article, I thought this guy was just another 1337 pirate, whining about trailers that ate up his time. By the half-way point, I was nodding in agreement. I'm sure we've all been in that situation - you know the one, where a movie is listed at exactly 120 minutes, and you need to be somewhere in 140. 20 minutes is just enough time, right? WRONG. You forgot to factor in the extra 10 minutes for other commercials or movie trailers AFTER the "movie's" scheduled start time. Wait, what? I paid for a two hour movie, NOT a two hour movie plus 10 minutes of ads.
Am I the only one who thinks movie studios and theaters should rethink their business models, instead of moaning and bitching about lost revenue from pirates and Halo 3? We live in the era of sweeping change. Companies must adapt, or starve to death on their archaic principals. If NO ONE wants to view your content, no amount of endless trailers or DRM-laced content is going to plug the hole in your sinking Titanic... - satanatnmtedu, on 10/22/2007, -5/+52Do you want to see the movies in a theater or not? If not, then stop going. I don't recall the last movie I saw in a theater.
- MerryMortician, on 10/21/2007, -2/+49what a ***** compelling argument you have brought to the table.
- AxeSwinger, on 10/22/2007, -1/+46diggbay?
- sotopheavy, on 10/21/2007, -2/+41Heres an idea. Only show ads for 30 minutes from 30 minutes before movie starts up until the time the movie is advertized to start. The earlier you get there and take your seat while advertising is playing the cheaper your ticket is. If you get there 30 minutes early you get the lowest rate of $2. If you get there right as the movie starts or later, you pay all $8 - $10.
- CheeseburgerBro, on 10/18/2007, -0/+38I have an idea: why don't we recoup our money's worth by using the time for OUR OWN advertising? I mean, if it's "free time" than I say we should be standing up in front of the audience and advertising our websites while the commercials or playing -- projecting gobos on screen, playing catchy jingles, passing our flyers.
- bill679, on 10/19/2007, -0/+38RTFA
- NSMike, on 10/19/2007, -1/+38Yes it is the consumer's job to create the business model. We decide what to pay for, and that's exactly what he's doing. Show movie trailers in the time running up to the film. Not at the time the movie is supposed to start. That's dead screen time anyway.
Advertising is taking over way too much, though. Hour long TV time slots used to have 51 minutes of content. That has been reduced to about 41 minutes. And they're looking for ways to make it LESS, believe me. I can remember watching the premier of "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" just to see what it would be like, and two things made me never want to watch the show again: a commercial break every 5 minutes, and the fact that yes, I can answer those questions. It was a half-hour show with roughly 12 minutes of content. That's IT.
It would be a little more reasonable if it weren't so obvious that greed pervades all of this as it is. It's not about meeting budgets for TV shows anymore. It's about squeezing as much profit out of an hour of television as possible. It was like a slap in the face going from the "limited commercial interruption" Heroes premier to the regular episode shown the next week. It's bad, and needs to stop. - 4degrees, on 10/18/2007, -3/+40if everyone stopped going to the movies then the MPAA would start suing people for not going to the movies.
- varun1s, on 10/18/2007, -1/+37Yeah he makes a good point which is this: if a customer pays for the movie that starts at 7:00pm, then he deserves to be able to see the movie at 7:00 and not 7:15. What the movie theaters do is falsely advertise a movie's start time at, say, 7:00. Since nowhere is it advertised exactly when the film will start, it burdens the customer to sit through the commercials whether they wanted to or not.
- roodammy44, on 10/19/2007, -3/+37I always get there 15 minutes late, so I'm kinda glad for the commercials :-P
- reggiT, on 10/18/2007, -1/+30The only problem with going in late is that you will get a crappy seat for a new release.
- phlosys, on 10/18/2007, -2/+31Think about how much $$$ you pay for cable tv, PLUS all the ads that are thrown at you! If you think the few previews before movies are bad, think of the whole history of commercial culture that is reinforced in between every episode of your favorite show.
They owe it all to Madison Avenue ad man #1 Edward Bernays. See BBC documentary ( 4 parts ) the Century of Self : http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8953172273 ... - geddon, on 10/19/2007, -2/+31Doesn't matter whose adding it. Most of the social web understands free content supported by sponsors. If I'm going to be subjected to ads before the movie starts, I expect to be paid for my time in the reduction of the ticket price.
- ir6c, on 10/18/2007, -0/+28If everyone were to stop then of course it would be due to piracy and not the ridiculous prices etc.
- gd1z, on 10/19/2007, -1/+28You're spending money to go see the movie, so it isn't the same at all. I think you missed the point.
- ARVash, on 10/18/2007, -0/+27INSTEAD OF COMMENT; RECEIVED BOBCAT. WOULD NOT READ AGAIN.
- TheSabre, on 10/19/2007, -0/+26What's bad are the new commercials that TBS has been running. My wife and I watch TBS in the early evening (when they show Seinfeld, Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, etc). The other night, there was a commercial DURING Seinfeld. A little overlay of Ray Romano walked onto the screen carrying a remote control and PAUSED Seinfeld, talked about "Be sure to watch Everybody Loves Raymond at 8" or whatever, and then unpaused Seinfeld. It was only maybe 30 seconds long, but it pissed me off so much that it was actually *during* the episode and not at a commercial break.
- rollerz, on 10/19/2007, -12/+37WHAT?
- andycr512, on 10/19/2007, -1/+25"Hmmm, no one forces you to watch pre-movie ads either."
Funny, most DVD players won't let you skip them. - MagicCake, on 10/18/2007, -2/+26HORRIBLE COMMENTER! I ORDERED COMMENT 6 WEEKS AGO IT STILL HAS NOT ARRIVED!!! CONTACTED COMMENTER AND NO RESPONSE. AVOID THIS SCAMMER!
- chris9902, on 10/18/2007, -4/+27Ads before movies? you mean the Google text ads?
- waz67, on 10/18/2007, -0/+23I don't mind ads before movies in theatres that much, what I really hate are the forced ads on DVDs (Disney is particularly guilty on this) that don't let you skip. Nothing like having a 3-year-old screaming that they want to watch the movie NOW but you have to wait for five minutes until all the ads/trailers have played.
- iregistered4ths, on 10/22/2007, -2/+25The movie theaters are making more profit off of each movie showing with commercials, they are not saving us any money. Take some time to look up theater profits and you'll see the cost of a ticket pays operating costs and does include a small profit, they just want more.
I take it you hate yourself? - xvertigox, on 10/18/2007, -0/+22I find the "You wouldn't steal a car..." commercials hilarious tbh. I can't imagine somebody taking it seriously. If people don't see a difference in stealing a car and pirating a movie then we're *****.
- greenm1981, on 10/19/2007, -1/+22Before DeBeers started their aggressive ad campaign in the mid 20th century, targeted toward woman, with "Diamonds Are Forever," there wasn't much of a demand for diamonds beyond their industrial use. Through Stroebelesque psychological manipulation, a completely new demand was created when men and woman were convinced that only a brand new shiny diamond could properly express commitment and love for one another.
At 3 months of a man's salary, years worth of compounding interest, and the untold cost in human lives that is required to deliver those shiny rocks to the western world, tell me that advertising doesn't harm the consumer. - theodenking, on 10/20/2007, -0/+21Same here. And yet, now there are ads and trailers on some of the dvds I buy!
- Godlike, on 10/19/2007, -1/+21Uh, if they didn't have the commercials the movie would start sooner, jackass. They aren't 'filling blank time' in any way. They show the commercials after everyone is already there, when the 'show time' for the MOVIE is.
How annoying is that? The times that they list are not show times, they are 'come and watch our ***** commercials' times. - geddon, on 10/18/2007, -0/+19"The fact that they make revenue from them is also accounted for in your ticket price." You and I are experiencing two different realities. In my world, the cost of the ticket prices keep escalating along with the number of ads.
- greenm1981, on 10/24/2007, -0/+18Think of it this way: YOU ARE PAYING SOMEONE TO SELL YOU ***** YOU DON'T NEED!
- MerryMortician, on 10/18/2007, -1/+19yet.
- ashmael, on 10/18/2007, -0/+18Right, and lose your chance at a decent seat.
- Eljefedeath, on 10/18/2007, -5/+23They don't have to justify it, you keep paying. You just bitch. Stop bitching and stop going to movies if it pisses you off so much.
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