Well you know, it’s a crazy gamble, but movie theaters are betting that this impossible hypothetical is never going to happen.
Look, they’re called projections. They base those projections from past sales. No one is “obliged” to conform to their business model. (Seriously, where are you even getting that from?) They only expectation they have is people follow their rules of NOT sneaking food in.
After paying the price of admission, that is your one and only obligation. And if you fail to visit the concession stand while you’re there, well good for you. And I doubt the movie theater is going worry about it too much because for every one of you there are about nine others who can’t resist that temptation.
They sell $1 boxes of candy for 3, .25 of soda for 5 and .50 of popcorn for $7, and they’re NOT expecting folks to bring in their own snacks?
Their system is to get me in the door with a loss leader then fuck me over on snacks. If they don’t expect people to game that system, they’re just dumb.
It’s one or the other. Either they base projections on past sales, or they expect people to not sneak food in. Because, you know, people have been sneaking food in for a few decades now.
This is true. If they’re basing things on past sales then they’re taking the successful food sneaks into account whether they realize it or not, so the sneaks are part of the business model rather than being in violation of it.
(Note that I’m not advocating sneaking in food. I’ve never done it. But I do see some flaws in the arguments being made.)
Apparently you have never been to a professional sporting event. The NFL requires clear bags of a certain size rather than a purse so they can see what you are bringing in. They then charge you $6 for a beer that I can buy at the liquor store for around $1 and something close to that for a Hot Dog.
It isn’t what it “should” only cost at normal retail… it is because that is what you agreed to when you bought your ticket.
Don’t like it… don’t go. Or go and don’t bring in your own food. They assume some won’t so that is fine in their business model.
If enough people bring in their own food the theater doesn’t hit their expected profit margin and the shareholders demand that the theater reduces expenses. They do so by laying off the guy who is working his third job just trying to cover his expenses for his disabled child. So think of that next time you take an M&M from your wife’s purse during a movie. Each and every one you eat puts poor little Timmy closer to his grave. (ok, maybe I went a little too far there, but you get the point).
You want to enjoy a movie in a nice theater… put up with the rules. If the rules don’t matter to you then download a pirated copy and watch it on your TV at home with all the cheap snacks you can handle.
You know, I work in manufacturing. Our business model expects we’ll scrap X% of our product due to missprocessing. However, that doesn’t mean we just shrug our shoulder and say “Welp, whatcha’ gonna do? Scrap happens.”
No, we proactively try to stay vigilant to keep said scrap at a bare minimum.
And yes, I sure theaters have a projection for loss of revenue do to food smugglers, but that doesn’t mean they should just bend over and take it.
I haven’t been to the movies in years, but when I did go when the kids were young we’d usually buy some snacks elsewhere to take in. Sometimes I’d buy the ridiculously over priced popcorn just as part of the experience, other times just take in stuff from elsewhere.
I understand it’s not playing within the "rules’ but I don’t particularly care. Same as when I go to watch (Aussie Rules) football, the price of food and booze at the game is stupid, so I take my own food and usually smuggle in some booze as well, although I end up buying a few beers while I’m there.
If someone is going to base their business model on overcharging people for stuff, they shouldn’t sulk when people upset that model by avoiding the expected behaviour, they should adjust their business model.
One of the large sporting stadiums here in Melbourne has just had to do that. Etihad Stadium is right on the edge of the CBD and surrounded by take away food outlets. They had a rule that you could bring in home prepared food like sandwiches etc but not food you purchased outside. After a reasonable amount of pressure that the reason people were doing that was because the food inside was too expensive, they’ve now dropped that policy and will allow you to take in any food you want.
Someone’s profits somewhere are going to take a hit but the consumer is the winner.
I really don’t want this type of theater to exist, given that they substantially choked out the kinds of theaters I prefer. As a matter of theory, I’d be happy if reduced profit margins on concessions reversed the process.
Does anyone police this anymore? I remember when I was a kid there were ushers who’d walk around with a flashlight and bust people for this or that, but it’s been years (decades?) since I’ve noticed ushers doing anything.
I don’t talk on my cell phone during a movie because the theater has a general rule against cell phone usage.
But if the theater tried to ban personal cell phones but allowed people to rent theater-owned cell phones that people could use? Then, yes, I would feel no moral compunction to follow that rule. If a theater allowed other people to use cell phones, I’d feel free to use my own.
If a theater banned all food and drinks, I wouldn’t bring any in. But if a theater allows food and drinks but only wants you to buy their food and drinks, then I feel no moral obligation to do it.
As this is a purely economic issue with no moral issues involved, both sides are free to do what is in their best economic interests. They’re trying to enforce a monopoly for their economic advantage. And I’m defying that monopoly for my economic advantage.
Now if you want to introduce morality into the argument, I’m willing to do that. You’re saying it’s not “fair” to the theater that a customer brings in his own snacks. And I’d argue that if this is a moral issue then it’s not “fair” to the customer when the theater charges wildly outrageous prices for the snacks it sells. Now explain why your definition of what’s fair is better than my definition of what’s fair.
I’m perfectly capable of sitting and watching a movie for 2 hours or so without stuffing something in my mouth or guzzling a drink. I think cheap candy, soda, and bad movie popcorn is there for those who see + smell = must have it. Go for it.
I keep reading about movie theaters in big cities (usually locally owned or second-run) who serve actual food you can take with you into the theater itself. I might be interested in that! Beer, wine, coffee, pizza, eggrolls, something tasty and portable eaten in the dark - yeah, maybe!
Talking on the phone is rude and makes it harder for other people to enjoy the movie.
Quietly sipping some smuggled wine does not.
There are rules we should follow and there are rules that are optional. That doesn’t equal “thinking the rules don’t apply to you.”
And, for what it’s worth, I don’t recall ever seeing a sign saying “no outside food or beverages” at a movie theater. (I’m not saying they don’t have such signs, but maybe they’re not prominent, and only there in case they decide to make an issue of it with someone who is really crossing the line with a couple of buckets of KFC.)
Theaters COULD, if they were committed enough, stop people from bringing in outside snacks by having rules similar to the NFL. The NFL can get away with it because it sells a massively popular product. Maybe the theaters should try it and see if the increased revenue from concession stands is balanced out by the reduced number of people attending movies.
Because the theater is gambling that you are not going to be able to resist temptation to buy snacks like you think you can.
And even if you personally can, there are nine others like you who couldn’t. Unless of course they brought their own food. Then it’s easy to resist temptation.