Tuesday, January 10, 2006
I HEAR THIS ALL THE TIME, YET, IF IT IS TRUE, THEN WHY IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT'S GOOD AND HOLY IS THE MOVIE CONCESSION STAND ALWAYS STAFFED BY TWO PIMPLY-FACED DOOFUSES WHO HAVE NEITHER THE ABILITY OR THE INCLINATION TO SCOOP POPCORN AND POUR SODAS IN ANYTHING RESEMBLING A TIMELY MANNER, THUS FORCING MORE AND MORE PEOPLE TO LEAVE THE LINE IN DISGUST WITHOUT ADDING TO THE THEATER'S COFFERS?
The Popcorn Palace EconomyThe thirsty moviegoer fuels the business.
By Edward Jay Epstein
Once upon a time, movie studios and movie theaters were in the same business. The studios made films for theater chains that they either owned or controlled, and they harvested almost all their revenue from ticket sales. Then, in 1948, the government forced the studios to divest themselves of the theaters. Nowadays, the two are in very different businesses. Theater chains, in fact, are in three different businesses.
First, they are in the fast-food business, selling popcorn, soda, and other snacks. This is an extremely profitable operation in which the theaters do not split the proceeds with the studios (as they do with ticket sales). Popcorn, for example, because of the immense amount of popped bulk produced from a relatively small amount of kernels—the ratio is as high as 60:1—yields more than 90 cents of profit on every dollar of popcorn sold. It also serves to make customers thirsty for sodas, another high-margin product (supplied to most theater chains by Coca-Cola, which makes lucrative deals with theater owners in return for their exclusive "pouring" of its products).
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The Popcorn Palace EconomyThe thirsty moviegoer fuels the business.
By Edward Jay Epstein
Once upon a time, movie studios and movie theaters were in the same business. The studios made films for theater chains that they either owned or controlled, and they harvested almost all their revenue from ticket sales. Then, in 1948, the government forced the studios to divest themselves of the theaters. Nowadays, the two are in very different businesses. Theater chains, in fact, are in three different businesses.
First, they are in the fast-food business, selling popcorn, soda, and other snacks. This is an extremely profitable operation in which the theaters do not split the proceeds with the studios (as they do with ticket sales). Popcorn, for example, because of the immense amount of popped bulk produced from a relatively small amount of kernels—the ratio is as high as 60:1—yields more than 90 cents of profit on every dollar of popcorn sold. It also serves to make customers thirsty for sodas, another high-margin product (supplied to most theater chains by Coca-Cola, which makes lucrative deals with theater owners in return for their exclusive "pouring" of its products).
more of this
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