# Why don't movie theaters offer real butter for popcorn any more? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-movie-theaters-offer-real-butter-for-popcorn-any-more/529003 "2010-02-14T22:28:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-movie-theaters-offer-real-butter-for-popcorn-any-more/529003/21 "2010-02-16T21:47:44Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > The stuff they put on movie theater popcorn is definitely of the Soylent variety. Coincidences on parade: I am, right this minute, wearing a t-shirt that says “Soylent Green Is Delicious.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-movie-theaters-offer-real-butter-for-popcorn-any-more/529003/22 "2010-02-16T21:52:15Z")
I usually skip the butter or “butter” altogether. Without topping, I can convince myself that I’m enjoying a healthier snack (albeit with a week’s worth of salt). Don’t burst my bubble. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-movie-theaters-offer-real-butter-for-popcorn-any-more/529003/23 "2010-02-17T15:04:37Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Do movie theaters let you bring tote bags in? Half the time I go to the movies, there isn’t even a ticket taker. I tend to go at strange times, sure, but security doesn’t seem to be a high concern. My wife and I aren’t big popcorn fans, but we usually stop by our local Quickie-Mart for supplies to smuggle in. She always marvels at my ability to put a 16 oz bottle of water/soda in each front pocket of my jeans. We will sometimes also get a box of Raisinettes (for me) and Sno-Caps (for Mrs. Omens), which either go in her purse or my back pocket (one of the advantages of having no butt to speak of). As long as nobody asks why I’m walking so strangely, no problem. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-movie-theaters-offer-real-butter-for-popcorn-any-more/529003/24 "2010-02-17T15:19:15Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > I usually skip the butter or “butter” altogether. Without topping, I can convince myself that I’m enjoying a healthier snack (albeit with a week’s worth of salt). Don’t burst my bubble. I just bought a couple of boxes of microwave popcorn. The packaging proudly says “100% whole grain” because of course that’s the current health fad. (But it seems kind of silly. Isn’t popcorn whole grain by definition?) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-movie-theaters-offer-real-butter-for-popcorn-any-more/529003/25 "2010-02-17T15:38:19Z")
For about the same reasons you never get an actual ice cream shake anywhere but an ice cream parlor. Cost is obviously a big factor but just as important are ease of storage and preparation, and the homogeneity of product and serving size. In essence, the goal is to produce something that can in seconds be squirted out of a plastic bag through a tube. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-movie-theaters-offer-real-butter-for-popcorn-any-more/529003/26 "2010-02-17T15:40:07Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I just bought a couple of boxes of microwave popcorn. The packaging proudly says “100% whole grain” because of course that’s the current health fad. (But it seems kind of silly. Isn’t popcorn whole grain by definition?) Advertisers like to do this to make their product seem special in some way. An old cigarette ad used to declare that their product was “toasted” as if that made it better than other tobacco products. Never mind that every other cigarette tobacco had been toasted as well. Odesio ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-movie-theaters-offer-real-butter-for-popcorn-any-more/529003/27 "2010-02-17T17:17:35Z")
I have to admit I feel guilty smuggling food/drinks into a movie theater. I know the stuff is way, way overpriced; but that’s because it’s the only way the theater makes any money. I feel like I need to support them. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-movie-theaters-offer-real-butter-for-popcorn-any-more/529003/28 "2010-02-17T21:00:53Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > It’s a mess, and it goes rancid, and it has to refrigerated and then melted. Plus it’s more expensive, and **most people can’t tell the difference**. Most people with dead taste buds, I guess. I’m convinced that fake butter crap is actually just a petroleum by-product and not edible at all. I also noticed that, once you drop a piece of popcorn that’s soaked in the stuff on your shirt, you will _never_ get that splotch of oil stain out of the fabric. That _can’t_ be made of anything resembling food. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-movie-theaters-offer-real-butter-for-popcorn-any-more/529003/29 "2010-02-17T22:37:43Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > I’m convinced that fake butter crap is actually just a petroleum by-product . . . Guess what? [You’re close!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stuff)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-movie-theaters-offer-real-butter-for-popcorn-any-more/529003/30 "2010-02-17T22:45:50Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > [Senator Theatre](http://www.senator.com/) in Baltimore, MD. Last film I saw there was Rashomon, fall 2009. Real butter or nothing! That’s just the way **you** remember it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-movie-theaters-offer-real-butter-for-popcorn-any-more/529003.md?page=1)