# BYO Movie Snacks and Drinks-A Do or a Don't? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 25, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809 "2015-01-25T01:17:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/21 "2015-01-25T18:21:57Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > I had to vote other since I don’t bring them in because it is “against the rules” but because I think the theater deserves to make a reasonable profit to pay their employees a fair wage. My sentiments exactly. Theatres make very little from ticket sales, sometimes $0, (see cite for first week of Phantom Menace.) > **[Economics Of The Movie Theater – Where The Money Goes And Why It Costs Us So...](https://www.themovieblog.com/2007/10/economics-of-the-movie-theater-where-the-money-goes-and-why-it-costs-us-so-much/)** > > The attention and interest generated by the article I put up the other day on Why Commercials Before Movies Is Worse Than Piracy continues to generate a lot of If you’re going to sneak food in, you should wait until the 4th or 5th week of release, so that your local theatre can get a couple of bucks from your ticket purchase. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/22 "2015-01-25T18:23:24Z")
When we snacked in movies, I always brought Junior Mints, if I was in the mood. We usually bought a medium popcorn to share, and I brought my own melted butter (laced with lemon olive oil to prevent coagulation), because I don’t like the fake stuff. I don’t give one good goddamn if the theater concession made a profit or not. Free market, baby. It hurts my feelings to pay 3.25 for a bag of popcorn worth .25, especially when it’s poor quality hulled stuff that’s likely been sitting for some time. I remember going to one theater in Anchorage right when they opened the doors, and they were scooping popped corn out of a huge bin and throwing it into the on-counter popper. Nasty shit. The downside of not snacking in theaters is that you’re more aware of the chomping, rustling and slurping going on around you. There is one theater locally that has limited easy chair seating and footrests, and will sell you a bottle of wine or a pitcher of beer to take in with you. There was one in Anchorage that had cheap tickets, but they more than made up for it with a concession that served actual food like pizza, sandwiches, good nachos, and beer pitchers at reasonable prices. Loved that place. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/23 "2015-01-25T18:31:42Z")
I don’t carry a backpack on account of being a 45-year old husband and father. But if I’m going to the movies its with my wife or, possibly, my work wife or my stepdaughter, and in either case my companion has a big purse to carry water in. But I do buy nachos with cheese. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/24 "2015-01-25T18:34:14Z")
Sometimes we smuggle in snacks and/or drinks, sometimes we buy a snack at the theatre, and sometimes we don’t get any snacks (in roughly equal proportions). I don’t feel particularly guilty about sneaking snacks in. In particular, there’s one theatre near us that has a dollar store and grocery store in the same building, so if we see a movie at that theatre we’ll usually pick something up beforehand. And if we drive to a theatre, we generally have bottles of water in the trunk of our car. The last few times we went to a movie, my wife picked up a frozen yogurt or a cup of coffee (if she’s feeling a bit sleepy) at the theatre. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/25 "2015-01-25T20:31:29Z")
I don’t bring anything in, and I rarely buy anything because it’s so expensive. If the theaters say it’s against the rules I’m on their side. It’s their space, and they make most of the money on the snacks. But see, I work in a cafe. We are a business located in the public library, the space is leased from the library. Now and again people come in with their own food and we tell them they can’t eat here, it’s not really part of the library. Some get upset, some don’t. Would you expect to be able to go into a bar with your own booze, because you liked the atmosphere? ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/26 "2015-01-26T03:19:37Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Would you expect to be able to go into a bar with your own booze, because you liked the atmosphere? I really wish I could say I never saw this happen, either. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/27 "2015-01-26T03:33:44Z")
Would have been nice if the poll had a “No because it’s stealing” option. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/28 "2015-01-26T04:02:00Z")
Maybe it doesn’t because it isn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/29 "2015-01-26T04:14:32Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Maybe it doesn’t because it isn’t? Yes it is. By smuggling stuff in you’re effecting their bottom line. They don’t make those rules for the sole purpose of pissing overly self entitled people off. Those rules exist so they can make a reasonable profit. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/30 "2015-01-26T04:30:12Z")
I’ll bring a bottle of water. I buy Sodas and candy at the concession stand. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/31 "2015-01-26T05:13:38Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Yes it is. By smuggling stuff in you’re effecting their bottom line. They don’t make those rules for the sole purpose of pissing overly self entitled people off. Those rules exist so they can make a reasonable profit. This doesn’t hold water because the places where we buy the stuff from also are capable of making a reasonable profit, and they don’t get the extra money from the movie tickets (money that is higher than they pretend it is). Yet they can charge a lot less. Gas stations make their money off of concessions rather than gas, but they don’t charge as much as theaters do. If movie theaters want to make money off of concessions, they need to stop pricing them well outside any reasonable amount, using rules to create artificial scarcity to jack up prices. That causes people to feel cheated, and thus inspires them to break the rules–rules you can’t really enforce. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/32 "2015-01-26T06:04:59Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > This doesn’t hold water because the places where we buy the stuff from also are capable of making a reasonable profit, and they don’t get the extra money from the movie tickets (money that is higher than they pretend it is). Yet they can charge a lot less. Gas stations make their money off of concessions rather than gas, but they don’t charge as much as theaters do. > > If movie theaters want to make money off of concessions, they need to stop pricing them well outside any reasonable amount, using rules to create artificial scarcity to jack up prices. That causes people to feel cheated, and thus inspires them to break the rules–rules you can’t really enforce. All your doing here is justifying this skeevy practice. The Cinema industry has a pretty standard business model. It’s been this way for decades. These are the only two options an ethical person has to choose from: 1.) Their house their rules. Play by the rules like you’re supposed to and don’t sneak stuff in. If temptation gets the better of you and you find yourself paying $8 for bucket O’ popcorn, well that’s just life kid. And that’s also what the theaters are banking on to make their profit. 2.) If these rules seem unfair to you, DON’T GO TO THE FUCKING THEATER and wait for it to come out on On ?Demand or Netflix. Oh, and BTW, popcorn at home cost about $1 a bag. Knock yourself out and have the pleasure of knowing you’re not a self entitled asshole,. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/33 "2015-01-26T06:05:40Z")
> [@Grotonian](#): > > My sentiments exactly. Theatres make very little from ticket sales, sometimes $0, (see cite for first week of Phantom Menace.) > > [Economics Of The Movie Theater - Where The Money Goes And Why It Costs Us So Much](http://themovieblog.com/2007/economics-of-the-movie-theater-where-the-money-goes-and-why-it-costs-us-so-much/) > > If you’re going to sneak food in, you should wait until the 4th or 5th week of release, so that your local theatre can get a couple of bucks from your ticket purchase. But this is based on a faulty assumption, that people pay to see something in the theater in order to support the theater financially. Maybe some do, but I pay to see the movie. That’s it. I don’t care that you made $0 on the movie tickets. That was a business decision you made by pricing it that close. You were banking off of making it up later. It’s not my job to guarantee your business makes money. If you are a for-profit entity, the amount of money you make is your issue, not mine. You want more money, you provide something superior to make it worth more money. You don’t have an inherent right to financial success, so you can’t try to make me feel guilty for your financial woes. How about this–since you tend to buy your tickets early, let us also order our food items early, and have them ready when I show up, a certain amount of time before the movie. Get some special items that are just not offered anywhere else, like most fast food places do. I’m sure there are other ideas–just anything other than working with a rule that you can’t financially handle actually policing. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/34 "2015-01-26T07:24:28Z")
There is no way I’m going to spend five dollars for a bag of M&M’s. I stop at a store on my way to the movies and buy a bag of candy (M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces, or Swedish Fish). And I usually buy a bottle of iced tea. And then I stick them in my coat pocket and take them inside with me. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/35 "2015-01-26T07:29:12Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Yes it is. By smuggling stuff in you’re effecting their bottom line. They don’t make those rules for the sole purpose of pissing overly self entitled people off. Those rules exist so they can make a reasonable profit. So by “steal” you didn’t mean “take (another person’s property) without permission or legal right and without intending to return it,” you have your own definition. OK. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/36 "2015-01-26T07:38:40Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > So by “steal” you didn’t mean “take (another person’s property) without permission or legal right and without intending to return it,” you have your own definition. OK. Do you believe smuggling stuff in is an ethically sound practice? ---
**Author:** ![Jake\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Jake\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/37 "2015-01-26T07:47:43Z")
I don’t really get the need for snacks and beverages for an event that lasts for an average of about two hours. I guess that’s probably due in large part to the fact it wasn’t a part of my movie experience growing up, but I think it’s pretty silly. For those who do feel that the movie experience is enhanced by food and soft drinks, I’m in agreement with **Hail Ants**. > [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > It’s a crass, tacky, and kind of low-life thing to do. I also think **Baker** makes a pretty good analogy. > [@Baker](#): > > Would you expect to be able to go into a bar with your own booze, because you liked the atmosphere? And this ties into what **Hail Ants** said previously: > [@](#): > > And the key issue is this: _ **Buying snacks is completely voluntary!** _ Some bars have a minimum cost of entry and some don’t. At a cinema, the cost of a ticket is the minimum cost of entry, but that doesn’t mean you get to smuggle in popcorn, candy and soft drinks to enhance your experience any more than you get to smuggle booze into a bar to enhance your experience there. In both cases, you are participating in an activity that is the central profit center of the venue you are enjoying and cutting the business out of that profit. I mean, _you can_ of course. But as previously stated, it’s crass, tacky and kind of a low-life thing to do. I wouldn’t associate with you at either venue if I knew that you intended to smuggle in outside replacements for items you can purchase on site. You’re not obligated to buy popcorn at the cinema or beer at the bar, but bringing in outside replacements for either isn’t acceptable to me. It’s not a moral transgression, but an ethical one. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/38 "2015-01-26T08:06:39Z")
The weirdest thing I have smuggled in–well, I didn’t smuggle it in, the couple I went to the movie with did–was all the makings of Bloody Marys. Vodka, mixer, Worcestershire sauce, and even celery. This was all carted in quite openly by the female half of the couple and included glasses. They always did this. We tried not to make a lot of noise while mixing but inevitably there was the refill about halfway through the movie. And of course the crunch of the celery. Back in the old days I used to take the occasional can or bottle of Mountain Dew in with me. If the theater sold it, I would buy it there, but they sell Coke products. It’s news to me that this can be considered stealing. It does seem a bit rude to take in your own popcorn, because if it weren’t for theaters selling it and starting the tradition, no one would have thought they even needed popcorn to watch a movie. After all, it is not stealing if I go to a hotel, and they have Funyuns in the mini-bar, only I don’t want to pay $9 for a small bag of Funyuns so I go buy some at a nearby Walgreens and bring them into my hotel room because now I have a craving for Funyuns. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/39 "2015-01-26T08:12:04Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > T > After all, it is not stealing if I go to a hotel, and they have Funyuns in the mini-bar, only I don’t want to pay $9 for a small bag of Funyuns so I go buy some at a nearby Walgreens and bring them into my hotel room because now I have a craving for Funyuns. Do hotels have rules about bring your own food into the rooms? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2015, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809/40 "2015-01-26T08:18:17Z")
I bring in what I want along with the rest of the family. No way in hell I’m paying cinema prices for food and certainly not when they don’t necessarily sell what I want to eat or drink. What is more, when going as a family I don’t even pay full price for the movie in the first place. I wait a few weeks until they show it at a reduced rate on a weekend. Total cost of a family of 4? £15 including tickets, drinks and sweets and no, I do not have the slightest problem with doing things on the cheap. As others have said, it isn’t for me to worry about their profit margin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/byo-movie-snacks-and-drinks-a-do-or-a-dont/710809.md?page=3)