Sunday, August 16, 2009

Be All You Can Be: In Theaters

Dear local movie theater chain:
I just thought I would take this time to give you some feedback regarding the ads you are running in front of your "feature presentations".
I decided to take my daughter to your giant, mega, ultra, orgazmo palace to see the newest 3D movie. I was happy to see your theater was packed for the feature. Hundreds of kids were waiting there all in their 3D glasses ready to be amazed by words flying out of the screen.
Usually, I'm a fan of your ads that are run before the movies. I like to see local ads that give me an idea of a relator that I might use or a place to take my daughter for dinner after the movie. Even the really annoying guy that introduces us to new corporately owned bands and mega blockbusters really doesn't bother me.
The ads that were running for this particular movie didn't work for me. I question how smart it is to run ads for the US Military in a kids movie. I can see the sense of it in an action movie or a R rated movie, but a G rated movie? I know you probably have to show these ads contractually a certain number of times a month, but it just doesn't work in a kids movie.
I'm not trying to sound like a crazy pacifist here. I would be proud if my daugther grew up and served in the military. I'm just suggesting that we let our kids be kids for a little while.
The tone of the ads were a little misleading as well. I know this is beyond your control, but I don't think that targeting kids by showing them how war is fought with drones from far away ("so they stay safe") is dealing with the reality of the military? Also, comparing a career in the armed forces to a video game is about as unreal as you can get. What ever happened to the tradition of the classic US Marine Ads? Teenagers are not stupid. They would respond to an ad about the tradition of service as well the educational and personal benefits of a career in the military.
Sorry for the rant, but I would ask you to consider your audience the next time you run an ad in your theater. The ads would reach their intended targets and the advertisers would be happier.
Of course we would still be stuck with that corporate movie guy. Oh well....

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