Randerolf

SNL taught us that Mr. Pibb and Red Vines equal crazy delicious in movie theaters, but is it right to take outside materials into a movie theater/ place where they are prohibited? Do you?

Many consider movie ticket prices to be high and by the time one reaches the counter full of popcorn, candy, and soda, the wallet tends to moan with strain. Thus, patrons may sneak gobstopers, jujubes, and other goods into the theater purchased at much lower non-theater prices.

The venue makes a nice profit from concessions. They don't want you foregoing their candy only to eat your own. If you own the place, you might feel the same way. Your house your rules. How do you feel about it?

People put bottles of booze in their suitcases for heavy drinking aboard cruises. Do you feel same about cruise ships as movie theaters?

debaser

I take booze into theaters and candy aboard cruises...

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snowy

I generally don't sneak candy into movies, or other snacks, and I wouldn't sneak other food or liquor into places it didn't belong. I'm just not that kind of person.

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Jinn

Oh sure, every time.

I find no moral dilemma, because their ONLY justification is so that they can charge me an unfair price on something that I can otherwise get much cheaper. If there was a legitimate reason, like a safety hazard or a cleanliness concern, perhaps.

But if someone's only reason for ordering me to do something is to that they can overcharge me for goods, then I certainly won't be obeying.

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Willravel

I don't eat during movies, but if I did I wouldn't mortgage my house to get a soda and medium popcorn. If they want people to not sneak things in, they won't ask $5 for a crappy hot dog or $6 for nachos. If it tasted like Taco Bell, maybe. It's government cheese, for god's sake.

Drider_it

Heh, I want an all smokeing theater. Non smokers not allowed, but it wont happen.

As for taking candy in to the place and such... I've done it. Then again I've taken hamburgers and fries into one before and on another time taken pizza. For me its the fact that I'm not going to enjoy a movie. I'm supporting the makers of the movie in the hopes they make a better one.

Lets face it. Your buying 2 hours or so of your life to "hang" out with a room of strangers who might or might not behave during the whole movie. Put on top of that the seating isn't as good as what you have at home. Then you have to rub elbows with others in your row. The list goes on. Very seldom do I have a "good" time going to see a movie.

When it gets to the point of buying "goodies" I'm always shocked. Walmart is a prime example. You can buy the same candy in a bigger bulk quanity as what they are selling at the theater for cheaper prices most the time. Is the theater running that low on funds they have to jack their prices so high? It's something I've never understood, even when I was younger. How much is one bag of microwave popcorn? And a coke? Typical late night for me at times. I want a coke. Walmart is right across the street for me. I jet over there put in .25 to .35 cents and get a coke. Or at the least a whole case for cheaper by far what happens at a theater at times.

Then again to be fair most theater's charge the price on popcorn and cokes so the customer can come back and say get free popcorn all during the movie and pay just .25 more for a refill. But as for me...

I don't feel bad sneaking goodies inside to watch a movie, if its just me. I can't get away with it with my kids if they go. They will want popcorn and such and even though it hurts the wallet, its a good way to make them happy.

Then again we mostly wait till the movie is out and either rent or buy it.

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eribrav

I usually prefer snacking on fruits or nuts, so I have no qualms about bringing those with me to the theater.

If I liked candy I would probably bring that too.

Esoteric

I've taken canned soda in my pockets and candy into theatres. I don't think it's wrong at all to sneak candy or soda in though, because the prices are pretty ridiculous.

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abaya

Wow, I had no idea that some people actually HAVE morals about sneaking stuff into places where they are overcharging you! I thought it was sort of a human right, that everyone agreed it was okay, as long as you snuck it in carefully (under jacket, in purse, etc). Interesting that there are some people who think it's wrong... not that I blame them for their opinion, I just had no idea they existed!

So, yes, I have been sneaking food into theaters, and into any other controlling, over-priced environments (including Iceland ) for as long as I can remember, and I will continue to do so with no moral qualms whatsoever. Clearly the people running theaters have no moral qualms with charging people $10 for basic snacks, so I figure it's all karmically equivalent.

BTW, a movie ticket in Iceland is $15... you don't even want to know about the snacks!

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Grasshopper Green

If you ask theater management why you can't bring your own food, this is the main reason they will cite (other than "It's against company policy"). Should you choke on your contraband goodies, the theater can't be liable for it if it isn't their product. Of course, the real reason they don't want you to sneak stuff in is because the theater actually makes little profit on the tickets and all of their profit at the concession stand.

There is a small chain here that was recently bought by Cinemark (I hate you, Front Row Joe!) that allowed anything but alcohol in. People routinely brought their own stuff, but there was still a long line at the concession stand. They also pledged never to show commercials, but since the buy out there are loads of commercials...another rant for another day.

So basically...yes, I sneak candy in all the time. No, I don't feel bad about it. Having worked in theater management and knowing the markup on the prices, I don't feel bad at all for not buying their candy and will continue to sneak it in until I no longer visit movie theaters. I'd sneak my drink in too, but my purse just isn't big enough.

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Push-Pull

JK nailed it! We'll buy the popcorn and Coke there, but when I can get candy at 1/4 the price at a drugstore, you bet I'll do it!

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Redlemon

"I got kicked out of a theater the other day for bringing my own food in. I argued that the concession stand prices were outrageous. Besides, I hadn't had a barbecue in a long time." - Steven Wright

I can handle not eating for a 2 hour period, so I don't sneak in food. If I'm bringing my son, I'll bring a small snack for him. He doesn't need a serving size that is as big as he is.

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cyrnel

Years ago I lived with a woman who had this guilt thing about our respective incomes. On movie-night she'd compensate by loading up her big, stretchy, hippie-purse (I called it that, which she loved. Hey, she's my ex.) with two cans of soda and a microwave bag of popcorn. I don't know how she managed but nobody ever checked.

I never dared more than a bag of m&ms.

Now I'd get nervous smuggling a stick of gum in my wallet.

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Sultana

I try to eat healthy, low-cal snacks, which the movie theater doesn't provide at any price. I have no problem bringing that in, although I rarely bother.

Taking the nephews, I'll get a few things at the store for literally 1/3 the moviehouse price. If their prices reflected reality in any way, I'd prefer to make only one stop. But as it is, not gonna pay it.

Booze on cruises. I'd consider it, but seeing how the luggage handlers fling the suitcases around (completely destroyed mine), I'd hate to have glass bottles with liquid inside. Not worth it to me to ruin everything else inside.

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dirtyrascal7

I try to keep movie/TV watching separate from eating as it is because it's a really easy way to consume a load of fattening calories... your mind is distracted with what's on the screen while you keep feeding your face full of junk. It actually makes me sick to sit in a crowded theater and see all these people cramming their stomachs full like mindless drones.

Anyway... I don't have a moral dilemma with bringing in small food items which the theater doesn't sell... such as a granola bar, some nuts, or a bottle of water. However, if I were in the mood for popcorn and/or soda, I would buy it at the theater because, like Medusa said, that is primarily how they make their money.

As for the liquor/cruise issue... I haven't been on a cruise yet, but you can bet your ass I'd be bringing something along with me. Do you think they'd be suspicious of a keg-shaped suitcase?

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pig

hell yes i do it; i'm not eating their shitty food. i prefer my own water or gatorade, and fresh beef jerky or a cliff bar.

as for the liquor on cruises...transfer to plastic thermos. no breaky break.

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ngdawg

We always stop at the local CVS before going to the movies and stock up on snacks, water, etc. Only once were we stopped by the ticket ripper because we blatantly brought the store bag in instead of stuffing our pockets or bringing my larger purse.
I refuse to be held hostage by their extortionistic prices.
When a friend and I used to go to the movies, she brought the bottle of wine, I brought the cups. And long before those times, friends and I would sit in the car just before going in and toke a few....ah, good times.
While they might say it's a liability issue, it's not...it's cutting into their profits, pure and simple. And, at least we're neater about it; we take the stuff out with us, not toss the empties on the floor.

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JStrider

I dont have any second thoughts about bringing food into a movie theatre, I like to bring beer and other alcoholic drinks as well.

I've even gone into just empty theatres and grabbed used large popcorn bags so I can get the refill... I dont do that often anymore...

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Jetée

I have never been to a movie theatre, nor on a cruise, so I had no idea that such establishments as these ridiculously inflate their concession charges.

But as I have read, it would seem they do so because they make little profit elsewhere on the tickets and venues, so the parties involved would have to find some way in turning a profit, and utilizing the power of food and drink markups, which most people like to indulge in when out and about, is a logical manuever used by these businesses to increase revenue. You may not think it fair, as I do too, but a business must do what it feasibly can to keep functioning. And if that means gouging you on the popcorn and Sprite you are craving, but don't really need, then by all means, either propagate the establishment or not. It depends on whether food really increases the cinematic experience for you all.

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analog

if i have a particular sweet tooth, i'll pick something up at the candy store just a few doors down from the theater... the theater doesn't really stock much of anything i'm interested in anyway, and I rarely want to eat anything while watching a movie.

Motivation number one would be, if their official reason is because of liability, I gladly waive my right to sue them to buy my own candy.

StellaLuna

My main problem with the theatre is that I don't need a bag of Skittles the size of my damn head. If I want Skittles, I bring in a wee bag from the drugstore. I will also happily sneak in my Mike & Ike's, ratbastid's (small) bag of peanut M&M's, and lurkette's super-special chocolate bar. I care not. They don't sell Mike & Ike's at these theatres anyway, the bastards.

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shesus

My thing is, if we're going to the theater it's a treat so why not splurge on popcorn and a coke?

When I was a teenager, my friends and I would sneak in alcohol to the discount theater. Those were some of the best times. The theater was rarely crowded and we caused chaos or just made out in the back.

One time we drank a bit too much and after the movie we saw finished, we snuck into Scream. The people got so pissed because we sat in the back and gave away who the killer was. Yea, I was a punk, but damn it was fun.

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Luciian

Suprising to me that some people feel moral obligations to follow the rules at an establishment that is so obviously gouging prices to an extreme level. Not insulting you, more power to you, high standards of morals is a high standard of life.

I however have no quams whatsoever about sneaking food into the movies. I do not feel it makes me a thief more the other way around if I were to buy thier rediculously priced goods. Every movie, which isn't all that often anymore, my friend and I stop at the CVS across the street to get a few different types of candy, maybe some ice cream, and a large soda.

lol, I do have some awsome food sneaking stories though. See my brother is a paraplegic so he has a handy storage netting under his wheelchair, which has held a pizza for him and chinese for me..burgers and fries, you name it. The topper though was I had a friend who worked at the local theater a few years ago as a side job, he and I went to a late night showing in the middle of the week when no one was there...because he worked there they just turned a blind eye and let us in whith 3 huge publix bags filled with a whole rotiserie chicken, 4 different sides, 2 2liters of soda, and a bag of chips..good times.

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Cynthetiq

eh here in NYC people carry bags, so usually people have food with them too.

I don't really care to pay extra, and usually I eat before or after the movie so I can wait the 2-3 hours between.

in response to as far as how much money the theaters make... they make little off the ticket sales especially in the first 2 weeks of the movie most of that goes to the studios so concessions is where they try to make up that amount.

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Willravel

Sneaking booze on a cruise seems more like alcoholism than being frugal.

snowy

This is probably closest to my view, versus any moral reason. I expect to pay $11.50 for my popcorn combo at the movies, I expect to pay $7 for a beer at the baseball game. Growing up, we ALWAYS got snacks at the movies, the ball game, etc., despite the cost, and so to me the cost of those treats is just part of the cost of going to a movie or ballgame or other entertainment--like you wouldn't go to a concert and NOT get a t-shirt, right? Plus, I REALLY love movie popcorn. It's definitely in my top five of favorite foods.

Generally, though, I don't do things that go against the company's policy. I am very much a goody-two-shoes.

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cyrnel

For my growing-up perspective, you could buy a small popcorn or soda for 25 cents each at State theatre, Whiteside, and Varsity. They still showed cartoons, too.

The 9th st cinema miniplex was the beginning of our high priced goodies. Sub 50-cent snacks at one end of town, and $2 at the other. Cheap ended completely when the small family theatre ownership wound down and shuttered Varsity, sold Whiteside to the 9th st cinema company, and State made way for Citizens' expanded parking lot. Granted, these things happened over time but the price differences existed for years.

If I were rich I'd renovate and re-open Whiteside for old, foreign, and customer-voted movies.

Anyway, bot, the 400% jump in snack prices between my home theatres and the new places permanently instilled a resistance to buying the inflated junk. While I was in Silicon Valley I'd usually go to 2nd-run theatres.

-That bitter old guy in Corvallis

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There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195

jorgelito

Interesting. So do you guys also sneak food into restaurants or booze into bars? I mean, the mark up at those places is outrageous.

pig

i have.

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World's King

I take booze with me where ever I go.


As for candy at the movies... I don't eat candy so... And it's hard to sneak popcorn in so...

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kevpdx

I have no rebuttal for the bar since I don't go to them, but the food at a restaurant is a different situation. People go to restaurants because the food is generally higher quality and you don't have to spend time cooking or cleaning.

Edit: Actually, I think the bar is a different situation because the drinking IS the experience, not like a movie where the movie is the attraction and candies and soda are just impulses.

MexicanOnABike

bringing food in?
I do if i really need to eat something but it's rare. Eating means the movie is boring.

and I've decided to NEVER eat movie food again. it's too overpriced.
also, i can't stand waiting in line.

as for the restaurant, it's not the same. at the Cinema, I pay to see a movie. just like at the restaurant, I pay to get served and have a great meal.

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ShaniFaye

I will splurge on the popcorn because to me there is nothing comparable to movie theater popcorn hehehe but candy and drinks? I have no qualms about taking that in with me

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fresnelly

To me Popcorn and soda are part of the experience, so that's my food of choice when I go and you can't beat the stuff at the counter, even if it is a gouge.

NOTE: For those of you who have an aversion to junk food, it's probably best you don't read the rest of this post.

Still here? Like Junk Food?

Excellent.

If you're truly feeling decedent, try dumping a bag of Peanut M&M's into your bag of hot buttered popcorn. The chocolate goes all warm and melty. and the salt and the sweet go together like nothing else on this planet. It'll blow your mind.

Of course, I don't do that very often but when I do, I'll buy the popcorn at the theatre and sneak in the Peanut M&M's. The popcorn is best made hot on site and I'm willing to fork out for that, but I refuse to pay $6 for candy that costs $1.50 outside and is available everywhere.

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REDL|NE

Coming from someone that has worked at a movie theatre for over 5 years, many theatres have EXTREMELY large operating costs. Combine this with getting next to nothing profit off of the tickets themselves, theatres are left to make up their costs from popcorn and advertising revenue.

No one can argue that the markup on the food items is ridiculous, but your local movie theatre would NOT exist if everyone snuck in food and did not buy from concessions.

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Randerolf

Heh, I thought about taking the topic in that direction, but I chickened out. It's very interesting.

Fresnelly, your popcorn sounds delicious.

ngdawg

But, by the same token, more would buy from the concessions if their prices weren't so outrageous.
Jorgelito: Apples and oranges, man. I don't go to movies to have dinner and I don't go to restaurants to watch a movie.

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Willravel

Does the theater rent to films? Or do they buy them? I'd wonder what that cost looked like before adding it to salaries, property taxes/rent/lease payments, utilities, cleaning/bathroom supplies, etc. I'd imagine there are plenty of costs when it comes to running a theater. I'd also be willing to bet they don't make much from adds. I should place an add for TFP!

surferlove007

Instead I end up shoving bottles into my "Grandmother Sized" purse which I was made fun of for previously....but then becomes oh so handy when we want to bring in Wild Turkey and Sprite.
Yea, I win. Grandma Purses are perfect for the movies...no matter how stupid you look.
Paying those prices are what I consider to be not the wisest move anyway...

Cynthetiq

from Howstuffworks.com

now this apples and oranges question of bringin booze to a bar... well some people bring drugs, now while not allowed anymore to be consumed openly in the bar. In some places in the East Village in the 80s and 90s there were "smoker friendly" places where you could pull out a bag of weed and roll joints openly, you just give a vig to the bartender maybe a joint or pinch.

But again, we are talking apples and oranges.

I don't know why anyone would sneak liquor onto a cruise ship since the ones I have seen alcohol had duty free shops that one was able to go to. One ship the Siljia line in Finland to Stockholm had refrigerated lockers for people to bring aboard but it was just an overnight trip.

How about something like an amusement park? Do you stock your car trunk with a cooler and tailgate?

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