Ads/trailers before films

Mad Benny

I went to see Fantastic Beasts and where to find them in Cineworld, Parnell street.

The advertisements were 30 minutes long. :eek:

Is this normal? I was there 15 minutes early so I had to wait 45 minutes.

I complained to the assistant at the door and she shrugged her shoulders.

I paid over €41 on tickets. I wouldn't sit through 5 minutes of advertisements at home. Never again...

Oink

In many cinemas there are specific showings when there'll be 30 min ads. I normally ask when booking the ticket if it's one of those as I won't sit through that either.

ArthurG

Seems to be the unwelcome standard these days. Same in Vue Liffey valley. I wouldn't mind if they told you up front so you can plan accordingly and arrive at 8 for a 7:30 show.

Kaizersoze81

They've gotten ridiculously long recently. Vue Liffey valley 25 minute ads last time I went. It'd be different if they offered cheaper rates for showings that had 30 min of ads, but you're already paying €11 for the privilege. Puts me off going to the cinema now. 10 min is the max I'll sit through.

Sad Professor

Vue used to be 25-30 but is easily 35 minutes these days. A surprising amount of it is ads for the cinema itself, 2 minutes long and repeated again before the film starts. It's infuriating.

I have a solution:

Make ads just for the cinema directed by well known auteurs. More like short films but selling a brand. But cool, funny and creative enough that people won't mind sitting through them.

Like Wes Andersen's H&M ad:

Or Spike Jonze's Kenzo ad:

There needs to be cinema only trailers as well, designed to be shown back to back with other trailers and to emphasise the film's uniqueness rather than its sameness.

As it stands, sitting through 15 minutes of irritating ads followed by 15 minutes of trailers for films that all look the same doesn't make me want to buy those products or see those films, it just makes me want to firebomb the cinema and then go home and buy a big ass seedbox.

johnny_ultimate

On the plus side, ended up being 15-20 minutes late to a screening of Edge of Seventeen I had booked the other morning because of transport woes. Didn't miss the film though because I still had 15 minutes of bloody trailers to sit through :pac:

nix

Yeah its stupid, but once you know its just how it is, its not that bad. i aim to be walking in the entrance to the building at the start time of the movie. Gives me plenty of time to hit the toilet and then pick up the popcorn, even if busy. i still end up waiting for the movie to start. I count they show 15mins of adds and then they put on the actual movie trailers, which last another 10-15mins :rolleyes:

razorblunt

Interestingly, I cancelled my Cineworld membership, more out of lack of use than anything else, but this was also irritating me so I told them that was also a contributing factor. My local Cineworld run 20-30 minute adverts/trailers to the extent for the last year we've been walking in at least 20 minutes after the start time.

dan1895

razorblunt wrote: »

Interestingly, I cancelled my Cineworld membership, more out of lack of use than anything else, but this was also irritating me so I told them that was also a contributing factor. My local Cineworld run 20-30 minute adverts/trailers to the extent for the last year we've been walking in at least 20 minutes after the start time.

Gave my unlimited card up when baba came along two years ago and there was easily 20 minutes of ads back then. Go to Santry these days and it seems to be a few minutes of ads one or two trailers and away ya go with the movie.

Theboinkmaster

I rarely go to the cinema these days and this is one of the reasons why.

With all the problems of cinema going (overpriced stale popcorn, ads, people on their phones etc.) and nothing done by cinema or film industry to fix them I've no sympathy for them going out of business or proliferation of illegal downloading.

I want to watch Sully but I'm not going to pay €10 to tolerate this nonsense so I will just download it for free. I'm happy to pay €10-20 to watch a film and buy a lot of good ones on blu ray but even now it's so hard to pickup blu rays normally I have to use amazon.

With downloading so easy and home cinema setups so good these days you'd wonder how long the mainstream cinemas will last.

Kind of like Xtravision....

The Black Oil

Not sure about 30, haven't noticed that - definitely 15-20 quite easily, though. I really want to see trailers, not those ads about college, lifestyle fluff, phone companies and whatever else.

I saw Sully in the IFI and there were no trailers, at all. It usually has ones for smaller upcoming releases, but nothing on this occasion.

Sad Professor

The IFI varies the amount of ads/trailers depending on the schedule, which is kinda annoying as it frequently results in people arriving 15 minutes into the movie thinking they haven't missed anything.

Albert_Camus

I've never found the ads excessive in the IFI (or even noticed really). And the trailers are always something I'm interested in. IFI FTW.

Outlaw Pete

What annoys me about the IFI is that if you bring in a Pizza or a take out, everyone starts giving you dirty looks.

Offer them a slice and they get even more irate.


I'm only messing :P


Yeah, the length of trailers in Cineworld is nuts lately and that damn Dandruff advert! :rolleyes:

homerun_homer

I went to FB and it was indeed 30 minutes of ads. 29 if you want to be pedantic. What annoys me is they will show loads of ads, then the trailers (I'm fine with that except when there is a **** one you keep seeing every single time), and then once you think you are home free they show another ad or two.

Can't they just do ads, trailers, movie?

Banjaxed82

As a frequent visitor of Cineworld, the length of the ads is nuts, but given that free seating is no longer available at Cineworld, your seat is guaranteed. Just add 15-20 minutes to the advertised start time. Aim to be in for that time. What's the problem?

homerun_homer

Banjaxed82 wrote: »

As a frequent visitor of Cineworld, the length of the ads is nuts, but given that free seating is no longer available at Cineworld, your seat is guaranteed. Just add 15-20 minutes to the advertised start time. Aim to be in for that time. What's the problem?

By guaranteed you mean not guaranteed. More often than not yes, but too often I go in having picked my usual row and middle location and people are sitting there, forcing me to move. That's a whole other debate and annoyance.

TheDoc

Surely this is just a general trend to try plug revenue streams that have dropped off from foot traffic dipping?

Odeon doing something similar, loads of consumer ads, followed by their own propitiatory ads and then the trailers mixed up. I'm actually at the point now where my popcorn is nearly gone before the film starts, which is an indication for me its getting longer and longer. It used to last for atleast the first 20 minutes of the film

Sad Professor

The problem with adding 20-30 minutes to the advertised time is that people sometimes get it wrong and the film has already started. Two things annoy me most at the cinema: People kicking my chair and people coming in late. I can live with most other things. I always sit near the front because I figure I'll endure less disturbances there. This is one of the reasons I'm opposed to assigned seating at DIFF. The only reason anyone comes early to those showings is to get a good seat. Otherwise everyone would be out queuing for popcorn and arriving 10 minutes into the film.

maximoose

This has been the standard in cineworld for a while

5-10 mins of ads
10 mins of trailers
One more ad after the trailers, usually Gilette for some odd reason.

And you'll still get donkeys arriving in 20 mins into the film.

saintsaltynuts

The whole Cinema experience is getting worse these days.

saintsaltynuts

maximoose wrote: »

This has been the standard in cineworld for a while

5-10 mins of ads
10 mins of trailers
One more ad after the trailers, usually Gilette for some odd reason.

And you'll still get donkeys arriving in 20 mins into the film.

I personally think these donkeys should shot on sight Moose.

Shybride2016

Was in the Odeon yesterday evening for a 9.15pm showing of Edge of 17. Ads for cinema, followed by ads, followed by trailers and then another ad for the cinema.

Film started at 9.40pm. I don't have the patience for ads on tv so I hate sitting through all that in the cinema, especially at a late showing - zzzzzz

vicwatson

25 mins in omniplex ahead of sully, they should get lost really

JJ

I remember when going to see The Force Awakens last year there was 30 minutes of ads. It was kind of understandable because this was the biggest movie release in the world last year, it was opening night and the place was packed. At the end of all the previews, one cheeky bollix said loudly, "That was a great film."

Varik

Was running late, and then delayed in a long line and lights were still on when I went in.

Skerries

this is why I go during the day when it is quieter so even if you are "late" to the film you still get a good seat 15 minutes after the scheduled film start time

AMKC

I went to see "Sully" in the Odeon cinema yesterday and it was not to bad. It was the usual 10mins of advertisements and then 10 mins of trailers. I don,t mind that at all it has never bothered me.

It would be worse if you want to see a film and it comes on straight away with no trailers. I like trailers before a film it gets you excited for the main event.

I have been at films before where the advertisements and trailers added up to 30 or more mins and some with very little but I think a happy medium is 20 min altogether and no more.

murpho999

AMKC wrote: »

I went to see "Sully" in the Odeon cinema yesterday and it was not to bad. It was the usual 10mins of advertisements and then 10 mins of trailers. I don,t mind that at all it has never bothered me.

It would be worse if you want to see a film and it comes on straight away with no trailers. I like trailers before a film it gets you excited for the main event.

I have been at films before where the advertisements and trailers added up to 30 or more mins and some with very little but I think a happy medium is 20 min altogether and no more.

Opposite for me. I HATE TRAILERS (Sorry for shouting).

They show far too much and often summarises the whole film and makes it not worth seeing. I try to avoid all trailers and just get a general consensus of reviews before choosing a film.

Pickpocket

A related issue is just how much the trailers reveal these days. They show way too much. Avoid the one for Scorsese's Silence at all costs! I knew nothing about the film except that it was about priests in Japan but now I've a fair idea of what happens well into the second-act. It's ridiculous.

quad_red

Arrival in the Lighthouse last night had 22 minutes of ads/trailers.

And the ads were all those completely ****ing insincere cloying Christmas ones. I know I'm getting older and grumpier but they do my head in. The ad for 3 with the girl and the cloud is just bland. And the doll that escapes the shop to find the man of her dreams in... McDonalds.

bodhrandude

Agree with all this, was at the cinema in Ennis on Saturday for Fantastic Beasts and there was a mixture of kids and adults, what got me was an 8 minute RSA advert which was utterly depressing. Yeah I know its the festive season and they want to promote drink aware but christ, such a buzz kill for a movie like Fantastic Beasts coming up.

homerun_homer

bodhrandude wrote: »

Agree with all this, was at the cinema in Ennis on Saturday for Fantastic Beasts and there was a mixture of kids and adults, what got me was an 8 minute RSA advert which was utterly depressing. Yeah I know its the festive season and they want to promote drink aware but christ, such a buzz kill for a movie like Fantastic Beasts coming up.

Doesn't the Ennis cinema show the film on the start time and the ads/trailers before it? That always bothered me as it catches you off guard because it's against the trend.

geecee

Went to Midnight premier Rogue one in the Odeon Point village last night
Only 10 mins of Ads/Trailers, with the film starting at 00.11

This was a welcome relief, compared to 1 hour of ads at a similar showing of The force Awakens last year

jaykhunter

Man, it's in independent cinemas too, half an hour of ads in the Light house. It's really taking the p*ss, it plays a factor in just not bothering to go unless it's something really important. I suspect a lot of people wouldn't care enough to hurt their bottom line (i.e. it's financially worth it to hurt your experience)

AMKC

Seen Rogue One today in the Savoy and there was only 15mins of adds so not to bad only two trailers was a bit disappointing do.

Noise Annoys

I pretty much gave up on Cineworld a couple of years ago when I had to sit through 25-30 mins of ads and trailers.

Films in most places start at least 15 minutes after the advertised time (remember in the Screen they used to put up the start time of the actual film as well as the start time of the 'programme'?).

Having said that, last year I went to the Savoy with friends to see Steve Jobs, and felt comfortable that we were walking into the screening just 5 minutes after the advertised start time. However, the film had already been on a couple of minutes. It didn't really matter in the end, because the film was cat.

Necronomicon

30 minutes is the standard at my local Cineworld, never deviates. I've just gotten used to mentally adding it to the showtime on the ticket. With allocated seating and no major need to be in there early, it doesn't bother me too much.

noodler

Generally show up 20 minutes later than the cineworld scheduled time.

blahblahbla

Not sure if this is the right place for this question. I was going to put it in after hours but its a actual query.

Does anyone else get really annoyed by ads when you go to the cinema.Not trailers but TV ads. It I've gone a couple of times this year and the thought of sitting through another phone/dove ad on the big screen just irks me. Most cinema advertises the film starts at a certain time but when I go there that's when the ads start.

For instance a part of me really wants to see Rouge One but I feel very annoyed when I have to sit through TV ads after spending 15 odd quid for the ticket and a drink.

Osmosis Jones

The less people that go to the cinema, the more ads they need to play to make money.

blahblahbla

I thought about that, but according to http://thecai.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/CINEMAPRICESSept10.pdf
that's why they charge lots of money for extras and only one cinema decided to respond to the request. I feel its just a way for them to extract as much money as possible at the cost of a potentially good experience.
I went in the end this evening and saw a car crash ad, one about suicide (7pm show, so much for a chilled out evening) as well as some other mind numbing commercials. Overall all I'm just sorry we didn't wait to watch the film at home, I feel like we got bad value.

I'm not trying to be a needlessly troll or rant on this, its just something that's been bothering me for a while about the whole cinema experience.

Kat1170

Ad's in the cinema are nothing new, and aren't going anywhere soon I'd say.

Agricola

Hate cinema ads too. If you aren't fussy about seating or better yet, have assigned seating prebooked, best thing is to arrive around 10/15 minutes after the stated start time.

jaykhunter

blahblahbla wrote: »

Does anyone else get really annoyed by ads when you go to the cinema.Not trailers but TV ads.

I'm alright with maybe 5 minutes of ads but when we're hitting 15+ minutes, it's wildly off-putting. Pirates don't have to suffer this, but paying customers do. I'm put off seeing Rogue One as I heard there was half an hour of ads.

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

The less people that go to the cinema, the more ads they need to play to make money.

This is a horrible self-fulfilling prophesy here: the more ads shown, the less people will go. I wonder if you could pay an extra euro to not see ads - like YouTube Red or Netflix (paying not to see ads)

philstar

Agricola wrote: »

Hate cinema ads too. If you aren't fussy about seating or better yet, have assigned seating prebooked, best thing is to arrive around 10/15 minutes after the stated start time.

that what i always do,

spuddy01

Went to see Rogue one on monday & the ads went on for so long I dozed off