Commercials in Movies

Yesterday as J.R. and I were driving around seeing the Puerto Rico sights we decided that we should go to the movies. The last movie I saw was Shrek 2 and before that I think it was Frida. J.R. and I were the type of couple that were at the theatre every weekend and some times we would double-dip, or triple-dip if we had nothing else to do, but that was over 4 years ago.

As soon as we walked towards the theatre we could see hundreds of people lined up to watch Spiderman 2. J.R. really wants to see Spiderman 2 and I might since everyone says that it is way better than the first. Anyway, because of the LONG lines we decided to see The Stepford Wives, but that is not the point of the story. The point is that before the movie started there were, and I kid you not, no less than 20 commercials with two movie previews mixed in.

I could not believe it!! 20 commercials seems a little extreme. In looking around I have found out that the price of the before movie commercials is increasing mainly because people are no longer watching commercials at home. There is TiVo and so many channels that it makes it impossible for marketers to find a captive audience - and captive we were. We sat there and watched as 5, 10 and then 20 commercials announcing anything from Coca Cola, hotels, and digital cameras danced on the screen. After all that I was tired. I have never wanted a movie to start so bad in my life.

I guess it is good that we are not addicted to theatres anymore. I don't know that I would be able to pay $8 to watch a movie with 25 minutes worth of commercials. I guess watching Spiderman 2 at the theatre is not going to happen.