Newport Times article 2

Commericials at the Movie Theater Keep Prices Down and Entertain Theater Goers

People been trying to get to the movies early. To load up on snacks, to get the best seats, and to get a sneak peek at the films they will be watching in the months to come, but now they are comming to the theater early for something else, something they do not usualy enjoy in their own homes, commercials.

Commercials, sometimes the same ones that air during popular television shows, are now playing on the big screen and audiences arent screaming for someone to change the channel. Not because that would be psyicaly impossible, but because they are loving it.

One of the reasons these commercials are so popular is because the ad revenue generated is keeping the ticket prices down. The average ticket is down to only $14 and if more commercials screen, theaters are promising to keep popcorn and drink prices under $8 each for some of their smaller sizes. The other reason audiences embrace these commercials is their entertainment value. "At home, I admit, I sometimes change the channel when commercials come on," says movie goer Paul Rooney, "but here they are bigger, louder, and more exciting."

At a recent showing of the Queen Latifa movie Taxi that I atended at the local mega-plex I saw audiences laughing hystericaly to a Sprite commercial and high fiving each other after the clever punchlines. When another commericial aired with a catchy musical tune "I want to be free" I witnessed several incomming movie goers bobbing their heads and almost dancing despite holding 5 liter sodas and waste basket sized buckets of popcorn. With all this enthusiam, it's surprising that across the country there have been a handful complaints about the commercials from movie fans who do not want to wait as long for the features to start.

When told that there are some movie goers would prefer that five or less commercials would air per feature, Rooney was surprised. "This is something we didnt have before, it's not a commercial on a tv screen, it's on a huge screen, it's awesome." He added that he hoped that theaters would continue to play as many commercials as they do now and that "if these people don't want to see commercials they can stay home, no one is forcing them to come to the the movies." Despite being happy with the commercials that play now, Rooney did have a few suggestions. "Perhaps we could see some previews for the commercials that are comming up. I'd like to know what commercials will be shown before the Holiday season's blockbusters, give me something to look forward to."