Thursday, June 30, 2005


Saw this ad in yesterday's NY Times. At first I thought Universal had thought up one of the most brilliant ad campaigns of all time (although I recall Bill Murray making a similar money-back guarantee several years ago while promoting The Man Who Knew Too Little on "The Daily Show," and that movie stunk and bombed... but I doubt many people walked up to him and asked for their $8 back). But from what I read, this is purely the idea of the theater chain. I enjoyed Cinderella Man and am glad AMC is trying to get people to see it, but I wonder how other studios feel about this display of favoritism for one movie over another. Aren't movie theaters supposed to be neutral? If I (God forbid) go up to the counter and ask for a ticket to Herbie: Fully Loaded, should the vendor be able to say, "Trust me, you'll like Cinderella Man much better... I'll bet you the price of your ticket on it"? Yes, the vendor would most likely be right, but it still seems odd to me.

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