Chinese woman sues cinema over excessive advertisements

[cosmicone]

Source: Times of India / AFP

BEIJING: A Chinese woman is suing a cinema and the distributors of domestic box-office hit " Aftershock" for wasting her time by showing 20 minutes of commercials before the movie, state media said Tuesday.

Chen Xiaomei claims the Polybona International Cinema in the northern city of Xian and film distributors Huayi Brothers Media Corporation should have told her how long the pre-movie advertisements lasted, Xinhua news agency said.

Chen, who is a lawyer, has accused Polybona and Huayi Brothers of wasting her time and violating her freedom of choice.

The case has been accepted by the People's Court in Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province, Xinhua said, citing a statement from the court.

Read more: Chinese woman sues cinema over excessive advertisements - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/mad-mad-world/Chinese-woman-sues-cinema-over-excessive-advertisements/articleshow/6513649.cms#ixzz0ysJ6fN7t

Read more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/mad-mad-world/Chinese-woman-sues-cinema-over-excessive-advertisements/articleshow/6513649.cms

---

We need to do something like this in the US. Last week, I was subjected to 23 minutes of advertising before the movie.

[doc03]

1. I just go to the movie 20 minutes after start time. I don't think

that is half as bad as $3.50 sodas and $7.00 popcorn.

[cosmicone]

9. To get the good seats, one has to get there in time... n/t

[doc03]

10. No problem here I was the only one in the theater

the last time.

[NYC Liberal]

25. $13.50 for a ticket here. No matinees either.

And I refuse to pay $16 (!) to see movies in 3D. I guess they're hard pressed to find more excuses to jack up the ticket prices.

[davidinalameda]

2. someone tied you to your chair and wouldn't let you up?

if not, you weren't subject to anything

[The Northerner]

3. Well those people who run cinemas can do it but...

they'll have to endure an unsatisfied and likely dwindling customer base.

It's a bad business decision on the cinema management's part.

[GOTV]

8. I'm part of that dwindling customer base. I like movies - I just don't like the theater experience

it's the ads, the previews and all the talking in the audience.

Theaters continue to wring more and more of the joy out of the theater experience.

They'll go under - and I won't care.

[gratuitous]

4. When I hit the lottery

I'm opening a movie theater. It'll lose money, but I won't care, because I'll be stinking rich. Here are some of the planned amenities:

Features will start on time. If the marquee or the advertisement says 7:00, it'll start at 7:00. Before the movie begins there will be no less than two and no more than four previews for coming attractions. There will then be an animated cartoon. Then the movie will start. Prior to that, there won't be any slideshow of local advertising, but there will be playback of popular tunes from my personal CD collection. If you don't like Bruce Cockburn, stay the hell out.

I will hire local high school kids to staff the theater. They will earn not only a wage, but they will get an additional amount to be used toward secondary education. They will learn the value of putting in time on a job, punctuality, cleanliness and customer service and relations.

Admission and snacks will be reasonably priced. You will be able to take in a movie and enjoy freshly popped popcorn for less than the price of a down payment on a shabby condominium.

Saturdays and Sundays will have matinees geared toward the younger set. Double features will be the rule rather than the exception. There will be drawings for prizes between movies. Nothing really expensive, but worth winning.

Ushers will monitor for yakkers, cell phone dimwits, seat kickers and other annoying patrons. One warning will be the limit, and egregious offenders will be summarily removed. The remaining audience will be encouraged to applaud when that happens.

[rurallib]

13. book me a reservation for the opening.

[dixiegrrrrl]

18. THAT is the movie house I went to as a kid! 1950's.

Coming attractions, Movietone news, cartoons, double feature, even a weekly cliffhanger. 25 cents admission,
cents would buy candy, popcorn and drink. No adults in sight.
teenage ushers would toss out the fractious kids.
That was back in the days of green stamps, getting a "free" dish in laundry soap and/or oatmeal box.
( Am I remembering that right???)

The 70's were cool for movie houses, tho. Rocky Horror midnight shows, Star Wars, etc.

Something happened in the 80's...dunno why.

Last movie I went to was in 1986.
Theater smelled like wet gym socks, people talked all thru the film, the aisles were busy, and distracting,
with a constant stream of people walking up and down, up and down, at least 3 toddlers were crying the whole time.

Now I am using Netflix and flat screen to catch up on 2 lost decades of movies.
Much cheaper a month than ONE visit to a movie house.

[Art_from_Ark]

20. You weren't the manager of this theater, by any chance?

Because your fantasy (minus the part about cell phones, Sunday matinees, and Bruce Cockburn) is exactly how this theater was run in the '60s (Replace Bruce Cockburn with Diana Ross or Herb Alpert and you got it).

[xxqqqzme]

21. The movie theartre, when I was a kid ....

we walked two blocks, it was a neighborhood thing and there was always at least 6 of us walking together. $.50 got us into the movies then popcorn, a drink and/or candy.

One thing that theatre had, was a crying room, next to the projection room. Mothers w/ babies could sit in that sound proof room and calm their little ones.

[totodeinhere]

5. I can relate. With the price you have to pay for a movie ticket, you shouldn't have to sit through

that crap. Yes, you can get up and leave but if you already paid big bucks for the ticket you don't want to do that.

Another pet peeve of mine is being forced to sit through a bunch of boring previews of other movies before you can watch a movie on DVD. And they disable the skip function so you have to sit through it whether you want to or not.

There should be a law against that.

[onehandle]

6. Movie trailers. Show me movie trailers. Now we see 30 mins of tv commercials, before trailers.

One of many reasons that I built us a home theater.

[superconnected]

7. Okay, I'm glad China has the right to sue people for crap like this

sure it's a frivolous lawsuit, but it shows the people have some rights to even seek a lawsuit over this.

[Rebubula]

11. Winning plan for enjoying movies

1) NEVER go to a movie that has been out for less than 3 weeks - extend to 5-6 weeks if it is a blockbuster
2) Go to early movies - 1st run of the day is usually before noon - very few teens\children\drunks
3) NEVER enter the theater before the posted start time. In fact, wait until 5-10 minutes after.

If you follow this plan, you will never fight for a seat - almost Always get the seat that you want. You will likely NOT be distracted by teens or drunks that like to talk\cause commotion. PLUS - you will avoid those boring commercials.


That said - anyone that complains about a voluntary activity REALLY needs to start taking control of their life. For the OP - you were NOT subjected to anything - you sat there taking it voluntarily.

[woodsprite]

12. There's one theater here in DE where it's 27 min

and every other commercial is for the military. I send my family in (the ones with all the portable electronics) while I stand in line for the popcorn and drinks. We went to go see one of the summer movies and got there early because we were afraid we wouldn't get a seat. The guy in front of us brought his laptop to keep himself entertained while he waited. When the movie started, he packed it up so the light didn't bother anyone.

[superconnected]

14. Wow, my problem is the movie trailers. They take movies I may have wanted to see

show to much and I feel like I've already seen them and don't bother. That's happened over and over to me.

[gratuitous]

15. Sometimes the preview does you a favor

I have been taken in by the hype more than once, and when I see the theater preview, sometimes I realize that the movie isn't worth my time. I tend to try to avoid the movies than can be summed up in a review by saying, "For people who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they'd like." Usually referring to slam-bang action movies or by-the-number "romantic" "comedies."

[superconnected]

16. You're right - now that I think about it, I've been saved by the previews.

I've probably never seen any movies previewed in advance so far so that's a lot of Hollywood crap that I've been saved from.

[woodsprite]

26. Even my kids push me to go to Fandango to look at the trailer

before we drop the big bucks at the theater. It's saved us too. We find we have created another category besides 'ones we want to see' vs 'ones we don't'. Now we've added 'ones we'll wait for until they come out on "On Demand" or video'.

[Blue_Tires]

17. i might chip in for her legal fees...

[customerserviceguy]

19. All in all

the advertisements aren't nearly as bad as the stupid young people who feel the need to text during a movie. When the little b------s sit in front of me, it's like shining a flashlight in my face. And I tell them that.

[proteus_lives]

22. That much?

At my theater ads and trailers top out 10 minutes before the actual show starts.

[No Elephants]

23. One question to Chen Xiaomei: Got PRIORITIES?

[NYC Liberal]

24. I don't mind the ads BEFORE the printed showtime

It's when they START the ads at the printed showtime, then show previews, then start the movie.