PLEASE!!! Need some help on Homework (ethics)

DSMSpyder99 · Feb 20, 2007

Ok this question has been stumping me

I honestly cant see anything wrong with showing 20 minutes of commercials/previews because i enjoy watching previews. If anyone can offer any help just to point me in the right direction would be most appreciated.

Ok so here is the question:

Identify any ethical issues(s) that my be involved in showing twenty minutes of commercials before the screening of a movie?

DGajre777 · Feb 20, 2007

I hate previews. I'm there to watch a movie and I paid for the movie, not for someone to force me to watch crappy commercials and previews for movies that I don't care about.

DSMSpyder99 · Feb 20, 2007

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THIS IS PART OF A BIGGER PAPER THAN THIS 1 QUESTION:

Another problem that was brought to our attention was; is it ethical to show twenty minutes of commercials before the screening of the movie? We know that Royal Theater is a business and just like in any business the main goal is to make a profit. Of course, one of the advantages of showing more commercials is other companies pay you to show there ads. However, at what cost is this extra profit worth? We feel one of the main priorities in the entertainment industry is to please the consumer and one disgruntled costumer is too many. The public goes to the movies to have a good time and for a while escape reality and be captivated by a great movie. It is common knowledge that tickets are getting more expensive through out the years. Many people pay a premium price for a seat at the movie theater. That is why we at Orange & Associate believe Royal Theaters should revise how many minutes of commercials play before the screening of the movie.

GVR4592 · Feb 20, 2007

I don't see anything wrong with previews, but for those that may find some ethical issue with it, there's a really simple solution. Wait for the DVD.

19Eclipse90 · Feb 20, 2007

Interesting, I am kinda doing the same thing in my composition class.
In my opinion, there is nothing ethically wrong with it. If people do not like the previews, they do not necessarily have to watch them, it is their choice. If people want to skip them completely, they can show up 10-15 minutes late to the movie show time and risk missing part of the movie. OR they can suck it up and sit through it. People nowadays are too damn sensitive.
So to say in a sense, there is a problem with that the previews are long; but is it an ethical problem? I do not think so.
What if they became post movie previews? Then the people that want to watch them can stay and check them out, everyone else can leave? In the end the entertainment business has to remember the famous saying, "You can't make everyone happy"

My dos cientos

ecarrillo · Feb 21, 2007

Ok ethically i dont think theres anything wrong with it, but economically thats a different story because like mentioned before it is a business and they are in it to make money but if people wanna complain about having to many previews thats there own problem because i know that when i go i complain when i see something i dont want to watch but if its a preview to a movie that i like i pay attention to it but then again i dont think they should remove them instead they should show them during the small waiting period before the movie and previews start.

1stGenRocks · Feb 21, 2007

the only ethical thing i can think of is when they put r rated previews on pg 13 movies. i know if i were a parent that would piss me off.

zilo900 · Feb 21, 2007

Actually i know that the previews shown are based for the target audience for the movie you are there to see.

I doubt any of you saw previews for the next disney movie when you went to see Ghostrider or Hannible Rising

Nanan · Feb 21, 2007

Thus one of the many reasons I do not go out to see movies any more. Pre-views for other movies sure, not pepsi/coke

ever commercials, I paid to watch the movie not 20-30 mins of commercials.

From an ethics standpoint, you are hitting the customer two times with the commercials, you are charging them to see the movie and you are wasting their time to add a bit of extra profit to your buisness. Now if you gave those products away to the customer then fine, free pepsi for all, else cut the crap.

Out of personal preference I refuse to advertise for a buisness if I am not getting a cut. You will not find me wearing a shirt with some companies logo that isn't the one I am working for. You will not see dealership or any other type of stickers on my car, if you want me to advertise for you then make it worth my time.

DSMunknown · Feb 21, 2007

Ethical or unethical for whom???

blazebolt · Feb 21, 2007

I'm with Nanan on this one. The theatre charges a ridiculous price for a ticket to see a movie (at least where I'm from, I dunno about other places). I paid to see the movie not the commercials. Sitting through 20 minutes of commercials is too long and the theatre makes a ton of money from it. If the tickets were cheaper (because of the offset cost from the commercials) then it would be understandable. Otherwise, they are taking advantage of us because we are there.

It can be loosely compared to how when you buy something online and they sell your email address to spammers! You paid for a product and you got it, but it came with a catch and there's no way to opt out of it (in the movie theatre example, yeah you could come late, but you'd get a crappy seat or it's sold out). Don't you hate that!?

DSMJim · Feb 21, 2007

I do think that it's unethical. First lets look at the meaning of the word unethical.

Adj unethical - not conforming to approved standards of social or professional behavior; "unethical business practices"

When I goto a movie, I am paying for the right to watch that movie. Unlike Television where I am paying the local cable company for supplying me the signal to my house. The cable company is not responsible for the contect that is displayed. I am not paying for the television that I watch, only the infastructure that brings the signal to my home. The cable company pays to have the channels available to me which is indirectly paid through my monthly payment to my cable company. The cable company however is not directly responsible for what is shown on the different networks. They are not responsible for the advertising that is shown by the networks.

The movie theater on the other hand is supplying what I am watching directly and that is exactly what I am paying for. A seat to watch the said movie that my $8 has paid for. I did not pay for 20 mins of advertising. Forcing me to watch it before a movie is scheduled is unethical. If they advertise the movie time as 8pm and the ads start at 7:40 so that I am not told I have to be there on time to watch them or if they were played after the movie was done that would be ethical. The problem is no company would buy advertising if that was the case, nobody would see it. So to sell the ads they tell you 8pm is your start time, then the movie really doesn't start until 8:20 because of non-related advertising being shown. Thats unetical no matter how you slice it. Movie pre-views are borderline unethical except that they are placed in the reel that comes to the theater so they have to play them, they are probablly part of the distribution rights as well. The advertising however would be specific to that theather or theater chain and un-related to what I paid for, the movie.

Basically the bottom line is, if you want to show me 20 mins of advertising before the movie then I should be paid for it accordingly. If the average movie is 120mins long and 20 mins is added for commercials then I want a 16.6% discount on the cost of my ticket. Unfortunately that will never happen as it would be a larger loss than the advertising would be a gain.

Eclipsei95cl · Feb 21, 2007

I have been working for a big chain of movie theatres in Michigan for a while now. I am a projectionist and our policy is that the preshow(Previews) cannot be over 15 minutes long. So generally it all comes down to a 13-14 minute preshow. Alot of the stuff like the pepsi ads, movie previews,we are actually under contract to put them on there and run them so its not like we cant just show them. We do however start the previews 5 minutes before what the showtime says. So if your movie was at 8pm you will most likely see it at 8:10pm. 5 years ago it used to be 10 minutes before showtime but then people bitched about not seeing all the previews. When it comes down to it you cant please everyone but at our theatres we have tried to find that middle ground.

roadrunner2176 · Feb 21, 2007

Are you strictly asking about commercials or movie trailers.

I dont see movie trailers as being a problem, but when you have to sit through 10 different trailers and 20 minutes of commercial that becomes a problem.

My ethics
Commercials
-- the good-- may bring the price of a ticket down slightly, some people actually like watching commercials, they make the movie seem longer so the comsumer doesn't ***** when they pay $10 to see an 80 minute crap show. Lets you relax for a minute before the movie starts.
-- the bad -- Makes you wait longer for what you came to see, products are pushed onto you, people take this time to talk on their cell phone, but not to turn it off or down, some people decide to argue and go into an ethical discussion about how they come to a movie and have to sit through the commercials, some make people hungry, some make people thirsty, people feel like they are wasting their time watching commercials and not watching the movie, you paid for a movie, not commercials, the theatre gets incentives for showing them, the consumer gets stuck watching them.

On the other hand, my ethics might not be the same as others.

DGajre777 · Feb 23, 2007

DSMJim said:
I do think that it's unethical. First lets look at the meaning of the word unethical.

Adj unethical - not conforming to approved standards of social or professional behavior; "unethical business practices"

When I goto a movie, I am paying for the right to watch that movie. Unlike Television where I am paying the local cable company for supplying me the signal to my house. The cable company is not responsible for the contect that is displayed. I am not paying for the television that I watch, only the infastructure that brings the signal to my home. The cable company pays to have the channels available to me which is indirectly paid through my monthly payment to my cable company. The cable company however is not directly responsible for what is shown on the different networks. They are not responsible for the advertising that is shown by the networks.

The movie theater on the other hand is supplying what I am watching directly and that is exactly what I am paying for. A seat to watch the said movie that my $8 has paid for. I did not pay for 20 mins of advertising. Forcing me to watch it before a movie is scheduled is unethical. If they advertise the movie time as 8pm and the ads start at 7:40 so that I am not told I have to be there on time to watch them or if they were played after the movie was done that would be ethical. The problem is no company would buy advertising if that was the case, nobody would see it. So to sell the ads they tell you 8pm is your start time, then the movie really doesn't start until 8:20 because of non-related advertising being shown. Thats unetical no matter how you slice it. Movie pre-views are borderline unethical except that they are placed in the reel that comes to the theater so they have to play them, they are probablly part of the distribution rights as well. The advertising however would be specific to that theather or theater chain and un-related to what I paid for, the movie.

Basically the bottom line is, if you want to show me 20 mins of advertising before the movie then I should be paid for it accordingly. If the average movie is 120mins long and 20 mins is added for commercials then I want a 16.6% discount on the cost of my ticket. Unfortunately that will never happen as it would be a larger loss than the advertising would be a gain.

Very well said! :thumb:

I'm with him ^^^.

Locke · Feb 23, 2007

I like the trailers. I do not spend much time watching television, and don't get to see many of them. Word of mouth mostly brings me to the theatre. I use the time before the trailers (commercials) to use the latrine and break the bank at the concession stand.

Don't like the commercials, don't watch them.

GloriousDSM · Feb 23, 2007

ethics are a guideline for moral standards and what is acceptable to you. It may or may not be acceptable by societal standards.

Showing 20 min of previews is advertising and something to create hype or a type of buzz marketing. Even an introduction or a knowledge that something new is coming out. In the end it costs money to fill these 20 minute spots before the feature presentation. Thier main goal is to make money and inform the largest audience possible about what is coming out.( and what better way than to show the people who come to the movies about new movies?) So by spending this money- they intend to make more money and the overall goal is for the opening and following weeks revenue. A preview is known as hype or buzz marketing because you will talk about it with your friends-and word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising. Just think on this forum how many tuners buy things based on others opinions and recmendations- it happens everyday all the time. In the end- you ( as word of mouth) become the advertisment to all your friends and the job (ethical or not) of the 20 minute previews is a success.

Ethics is in the eye of the beholder, so there is no right answer to this- just your opinion- how you feel /were raised and what your values and views of this are.

jongreene · Feb 23, 2007

I personally get bored sitting waiting for the show to start and do enjoy something onscreen beforehand, but if the movie starts at 8:00 I want to watch it at 8 not 8:10 or 8:15.
Its unethical to tell everyone the movie starts at 8 but play 15 minutes of previews and have the film start late.

EvolvingGST · Feb 23, 2007

Ok I don't like commercials but it is totally ethical. I mean thats how companies make money. If you want to pay 3,000,000 each to watch a sitcom then please by all means pay. At the end commercials help pay for our shows we like to watch. It is part of the price. Do I like it? No I don't but its the cost we play. It is like the super bowl commercials costing people something rediculous for a few seconds of airtime.

I know companies make money but that is at the end of the day what they are started for. Commercials make them money and pay the news broadcasters and actors.

GloriousDSM · Feb 23, 2007

2.5 million for a 30 second superbowl spot :thumb:

they are selling space and time

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PLEASE!!! Need some help on Homework (ethics)

DSMSpyder99

DGajre777

DSMSpyder99

GVR4592

19Eclipse90

ecarrillo

1stGenRocks

zilo900

Nanan

DSMunknown

blazebolt

DSMJim

Eclipsei95cl

roadrunner2176

DGajre777

Locke

N/T DSM Wiseman

GloriousDSM

jongreene

EvolvingGST

GloriousDSM

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