Movie theaters around the country have a begun a #SaveYourCinema campaign to try and provoke their customers to call their members of congress and ask them to bail out the National Association Of Theater Owners (site HERE).
It’s a tough sell to an industry that hasn’t been very good to customers over the years.
There have price hikes after prices hikes. Matinees have pushed into double digits. Early bird specials have shrunk to just one showing on one day week in many cases.
And then we have the $5.50 soda. Movie theater concessions are among the worst family entertainment deals out there.
We’ve also got movie studios making poor decisions like airing their movies overseas first, exposing the American market to potential spoilers. I’m looking at you Warner Bros with Tenet (story HERE).
The only saving grace for the movie theaters have been movie passes, where companies like AMC and Regal have thrown a life line to consumers and at the same time secured themselves regular monthly income. Those are suggested FTR deals I personally use.
But a bailout? That is a tough ask for customers.
A call to your member of congress isn’t asking too much and your communication will literally be a notch on a notepad (welcome to constituent services), and when the theaters reopen, it will be up to the film you’re seeing on whether it’s worth your money or not.
But this is a time to ask yourself what has the movie theater industry really done for you over the years.