February 21, 2003
A lawsuit we can all get behind

A Chicago teacher has filed a class action lawsuit against Loews Cineplex for all those damn ads they now show before the movie:


[The lawsuit] claims the theater circuit's policy of playing pre-film product commercials amounts to a deceptive business practice because the ads begin at the time advertised as the start of a feature movie.

The legal action reflects the reaction of many moviegoers jarred by the increasing prominence of onscreen advertising in theaters industrywide. In fact, the succession of such pre-movie ads now often lasts up to 10 minutes or longer in many venues.


The story notes a solution that's in place in certain European countries that I for one would find to be perfectly acceptable:

[N]ewspaper listings and box office signage stipulate both movie times and times for pre-show ads and trailers.

Admit it - if you knew that the ads started at 1:30 and the movie started at 1:40, would you be in any rush to get there by 1:30?

I should note that I don't consider movie trailers to be advertising. Trailers are fine, since after all they're sometimes better than the feature film. Hell, I went to see Wing Commander in 1999 solely for the purpose of seeing the Phantom Menace trailer. (If I'd had half a brain, I'd have left after the trailer, too.) Making me sit through six or eight commercials beforehand, though, is just torture.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on February 21, 2003 to Legal matters | TrackBack
Comments

I've said it before and I'll stand by it: Wing Commander was the most underrated WWII Sub Movie remake of 1999...

Posted by: Michael on February 21, 2003 5:20 PM