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February 19, 2005
End the Movie Madness: Can We Get Other Local Elected Officials to Do This Too??
Our hero of the day is New York City Councilwoman Gale Brewer. She has just introduced legislation to require movie theaters to tell us when the movies start, not when the ads start.
It should be illegal for movie theaters to lie to us about movie times, so that they can hold us hostage and make us watch pre-movie ads.
We'd like to make Brewer's bill spread. You can help. Please ask your local elected officials to introduce this legislation too.
Here's yesterday's article in the New York Daily News:
http://nydailynews.com/front/v-pfriendly/story/282178p-241737c.htm
Coming distractions
By David Saltonstall
It's the latest horror at the movies: endless ads for everything from ladies' underwear to perfume to soda.
But a new City Council bill aims to set moviegoers free with a different kind of advertising - movie listings that reflect when movies actually begin, not the ads and previews before.
"We can't outlaw advertising," said City Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan), author of the bill. "But at least we can tell the industry that they have to be honest about when their movies start, not their ads."
She shouldn't have much trouble finding support among the city's film buffs, many of whom say they feel entrapped not by previews - which many like - but by the growing number of TV-like commercials that now precede most flicks.
"I didn't pay to see the ads," said Lorraine Lew, 33, a dietician from Queens, as she headed to the movies yesterday. "I paid to see the movies and the previews."
At one recent showing of the sleeper hit "Sideways" at the Loews 34th St. in Manhattan, for instance, seven ads - for everything from Coke to the Jamaica Tourist Board - competed with five previews. The result? The movie started 16 minutes after its advertised time.
If passed, Brewer's bill would require theaters to advertise the "actual start time" of any movie, not when ads and previews begin. Any theater that doesn't comply could face fines of $500 to $1,000 for each infraction.
Not surprisingly, the city's larger theater chains are giving two thumbs down to the idea, saying moviegoers know to expect "pre-feature content" at any movie.
"We believe that the public understands that the feature film starts sometime after the published showtime," said a statement from Loews Cineplex, which has 15 theaters in the five boroughs.
Some of the city's smaller, independent theaters don't have to be forced into providing truth in advertising. At the BAM Rose Cinemas in Brooklyn, for instance, movies start when advertised, and there are never any ads mixed among the previews. "We have to respect people's time," said theater manager Efi Shahar.
If passed, Brewer's bill would be a first in the nation.
"In the scheme of things, it isn't life or death," said Brewer. "But people shouldn't feel used after going to the movies."
Posted by Gary Ruskin at February 19, 2005 06:58 AM
Comments
If you read the legislation, it seems to be self-negating. It reads that actual start times shall be required in "...all media advertisements, not including previews, advertisements..."
IANAL, but this looks useless.
Posted by: Ben Schiendelman at February 24, 2005 01:20 PM
I suggest you read the legislation again. Actually, it's pretty clear. It's not self-negating at all.
Posted by: Gary Ruskin at February 24, 2005 01:28 PM
I hope this legislation passes. Am I a moviegoer? Not really, but consumers have the right to know when a movie actually starts, not when the ads and previews begin.
Posted by: Ken M. McNatt at February 24, 2005 03:12 PM
And now they're adding and even marketing "The Twenty". The 20 refers to the 20 minutes of pure ads BEFORE the rest of the ads and previews that normally preceed the movies. We saw this ad before Farenheit 911, of all things, and in a Regal Cinema in Spokane. Have you guys seen this too?
Posted by: nikki monacelli at March 7, 2005 11:35 PM
