Recently, GSC, Malaysia’s largest cinema company, was slapped with a RM45k fine by the Ayer Keroh sessions court for overcharging customers for snacks and drinks ie. Profiteering. Mineral water (600mL) was sold at RM3.30 and 75g of potato chips for RM5.

Just like how Starbucks is actually a bank and IKEA is actually a theme park, cinemas are basically snack stores. Here’s why: 👇​👇​ 

Popcorn Profits: 🍿​

• Movies are media for the masses, so ticket prices remain somewhat affordable across the board.

• Cinemas only get to keep 50% of ticket sales, the other half goes back to the distributor/studio.

• So, cinemas actually make the bulk of their money from concessions, selling food & drinks for a huge profit margin.

• AMC reported that 84% of concession revenue was profit, compared to the 50% they were able to keep from admissions.

• If they didn’t have concessions, they’d be out of business.

• Arguably, it makes more sense for them to market the hell outta food & drinks than tickets to make money, and that’s what they do.

Tricks for Treats: ​💲​

• Like a theme park, once inside, you play by their rules, so no outside F&B and you have to get their overpriced items.

• Also, concession counters are designed to be brightly lit with bold colours to attract customers.

• Not to mention the ultra-fragrant smell of buttery popcorn, on full display served on the spot.

• The counters are also placed en route to the movie halls, tempting moviegoers to make a stop before the movie.

• A 20-minute commercials session runs before each movie too, giving viewers another chance to get some food. 

• Plus, we won’t feel bad waiting in line since the movie hasn’t started.

• Cinemas also design their menu for combo deals, upsizing options, movie tie-ins and pay extra for free refills. Who even gets up during a movie to get refills? 🤷🏻‍♂️

• These are just some of the tactics cinemas use to get about 70% of attendees to get something at concessions.

Before you go...

• Check out Issue #81 where we talked about The Influencer Bubble 🤳​💲
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This series is brought to you by Lee Way (@leewaylau). He will be writing about political & societal issues, history, movies and music on What's Up Wednesday.