Cory Doctorow rightly gets very mardy over at Boingboing at the ludicrous anti-piracy warnings shown before movies in the UK, after the 30 minutes of crushingly loud adverts. And then the "Thank You For Not Smoking And Talking" notice (I always add "...And Wanking" in my mind and crack up, but that's just me...)
He suggests we all take flash photos of the screen when this warning comes up, which is a great idea. It would be nice if we could also hoot with derision.
Apparently they have only just started showing ads before movies at theatres in Canada (what a lovely, civilized country...), but when we were last in Vancouver we had to endure the slightly squirm-inducing spectacle of an usher welcoming us all to the cinema and exhorting us to enjoy the film and so on. I could do without that, to be honest. I know you are only trying to be nice and customer-focused and show a human face and all, but it just freaks me out a bit.
Don't know what ultra-civilized theaters you were going to in Vancouver, but they've been showing ads intermingled with real move previews for some time here, as far as I know. Mind you, there aren't too many yet. Certainly nor 30 mins, but maybe you were exaggerating.
Just think though, how long will it be before they force you to watch ads on DVDs? Fair enough that you can't skip past the anti-piracy warnings there, but wait til they force you to sit through an ad for the latest SUV, which will be shown driving all over these wild gorgeous places, (when really we know it will just sit on the highway in gridlock 99% of its "lifetime", stinking up the air and burning through fossil fuels at a tremendous rate, etc etc.).
On his satirical show Monday Report, Rick Mercer skewered those horrid anti-piracy things they show in theaters, it was brilliant. But for the time being CBC.ca seems to have taken down all the clips. If they put it back up I'll send you the link.
Posted by: Rebecca | May 18, 2004 at 03:33 PM