# Hey, I came to see a film! Not some damn advert! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 14, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919 "2005-11-14T01:34:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/1 "2005-11-14T01:34:16Z")
Adverts before films in cinemas. Crap anyway, unless they’re funny. But this one takes the fucking cake. This may have been pitted already. If it hasn’t been, WHY THE HELL NOT? Three words: Ten. Minute. Advert. No, I’m not exaggerating. [Here it is.](http://www.hm.com/corporate/inspiration/campaigns/denim/index.jsp?clang=us&version=2005-44b) I challenge you to sit through all of it. The best part? When it seems like it’s about to end, but then doesn’t. Evil .There were audible groans from the audience when it started back up again. Apperently, it’s already been pulled in Canada, as they were attacked for glamourising gun culture. Sure it does. It’s also VERY FUCKING ANNOYING. Methinks that H&M are responding to the latter rather than the former, here. I mean…seriously. Just watch it. And then imagine being forced to watch in, on a cinema screen. How on earth did they think this would make people want to go there? (Other than, of course, to set fire to the damn place). Is there a word for an anti-advert? Something which dispromotes the brand and makes people hate it? This is the epitome of that. Oh, and one more thing: Fuck you, H&M. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/2 "2005-11-14T01:39:38Z")
Another fine reason to only watch movies on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/3 "2005-11-14T01:45:47Z")
Yeah, I always show up at movies half an hour late so I get there just in time for the movie to start. Starts at 1pm? Show up at 2 and enter the theatre in time to hear that \*wwwwwwwrrrrrrrrrrrrrewwwwwwwwwww \* Dolby noise. Score. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/4 "2005-11-14T01:49:16Z")
I’m usually early, but I poke my head in to see if they’re still on the ad phase. Once they start the trailers, I’ll go in. Fuck the ads. I just wish I had a big old remote with a mute button just for use in the cinema. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/5 "2005-11-14T04:16:02Z")
You guys have it easy. Here in Japan, they play ads before and after trailers up to the time the feature film begins. And movie tickets run about US$15. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/6 "2005-11-14T05:17:13Z")
Just out of curiosity, what is the ten-minute advertisement about? Didn’t a woman in Chicago successfully sue a theater chain for not starting movies at the advertised time? ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/7 "2005-11-14T06:11:13Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > Yeah, I always show up at movies half an hour late so I get there just in time for the movie to start. Starts at 1pm? Show up at 2 I have gorgeous maths skills. That should have said “Starts at 1:30pm”. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/8 "2005-11-14T06:22:48Z")
> [@Larry Borgia](#): > > Another fine reason to only watch movies on DVD. Except DVDs have unskippable trailers at the beginning that will be outdated within a year of buying it. We bought the DVD - at three times the price of a movie ticket, and we still get bombarded with in-your-face advertising!!! That is so so wrong. Especially when there’s also an ad warning you not to buy pirated DVDs. Because a pirated DVD would remove the ads and trailers. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/9 "2005-11-14T07:34:42Z")
“Buy our phones and get gunned down in the streets!” Not the best sales pitch I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![galt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/10 "2005-11-14T07:35:00Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > Just out of curiosity, what is the ten-minute advertisement about? I’m curious about this too. I started watching it and it appeared to be some kind of godawful unwatchable music video / crappy love song, presumably loosely based on Romeo and Juliet, given the opening titles. About 90 seconds of it was about all I could take. This commercial has failed spectactularly at getting my attention or even informing me as to who “H&M” is and what the fuck they’re selling. I’d be pretty angry if I was forced to sit through 10 minutes of it, too. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/11 "2005-11-14T07:55:55Z")
H&M is a family owned, Sweden based, multinational chain of stores selling clothes. Think of them as the Wal-Mart of garments. They’ve expanded like crazy the last ten years and are trying to re-position themselves as something more exclusive than what they really are, by bringing in high profile designers and crap like this. I guess this one backfired. ---
**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/12 "2005-11-14T09:34:24Z")
Over here (Germany), they’re showing (still-too-long) snippets of the damn thing as TV ads, too - making you switch the channel in confusion because you think you’ve inadvertently switched to MTV. Way to defeat the purpose of an ad, H&M. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/13 "2005-11-14T09:45:43Z")
Who exactly was shooting whom when she pointed the cellphone? ---
**Author:** ![baronsabato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@baronsabato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baronsabato)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/14 "2005-11-14T14:22:19Z")
Huh. That was pretty bizarre. If I had seen that at a movie theatre, I would probably have briefly been excited (or appalled), thinking it was some remake of “West Side Story” or something. Until, of course, they started to sing from the “Dreamgirls” soundtrack. What an odd idea for a commercial. ---
**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/15 "2005-11-14T14:27:47Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Who exactly was shooting whom when she pointed the cellphone? I think the “Julia” girl basically committed suicide (since no dagger was available at the site) by pointing the cellphone at the cop who in turn shot her. Then she got to frolic on the sheets with “Romeo” in the afterlife. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/16 "2005-11-14T14:37:09Z")
Sounds like life has imitated the Onion, once again… [Opium-Inspired Ad Exec Pens Epic Tums Jingle](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/31311) ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/17 "2005-11-14T16:02:34Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > Yeah, I always show up at movies half an hour late so I get there just in time for the movie to start. Starts at 1pm? Show up at 2 and enter the theatre in time to hear that \*wwwwwwwrrrrrrrrrrrrrewwwwwwwwwww \* Dolby noise. Score. Props to you for the best typed representation of the Dolby Noise I’ve seen. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/18 "2005-11-14T16:41:11Z")
No one’s mentioned my “favorite” pre-movie dreck, “The Twenty”, being run at Regal Theaters. At the end of the series of ads and behind-the-scenes-type mini features, the voiceover says something to the effect of “…if you missed any of The Twenty, come earlier next time…” Yeah, right. Here’s my idea–above the theater door, have a count-down clock. OTOH, I suppose that could lead to a mass of people in the lobby and a rush for seats as the final seconds tick away. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/19 "2005-11-14T16:41:42Z")
> [@The Gaspode](#): > > H&M is a family owned, Sweden based, multinational chain of stores selling clothes. Think of them as the Wal-Mart of garments. > They’ve expanded like crazy the last ten years and are trying to re-position themselves as something more exclusive than what they really are, by bringing in high profile designers and crap like this. I guess this one backfired. Huh. I assumed it was a cellphone ad, because they kept dropping in these tight shots of their phones. Didn’t bother to watch the whole thing, naturally, as I have to high a regard for my own sanity. The two minutes or so I did watch were fuckin’ interminable. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919/20 "2005-11-14T16:47:32Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > Props to you for the best typed representation of the Dolby Noise I’ve seen. Except that was the [THX](http://www.thx.com) noise. It was really good, though. I knew what it was supposed to represent even though it was mislabelled. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-i-came-to-see-a-film-not-some-damn-advert/330919.md?page=2)