In my defense.... (Destiny)

by Robot Chickens, Monday, October 23, 2017, 14:24 (2595 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

Buying popcorn for 6 bucks at the movie theatre also doesn’t make you a sucker, but that doesn’t mean it’s not shady.

Fair point. However, it also doesn't mean it automatically/necessarily IS shady!

In fact, I would argue that this very example you provide is evidence of it not being shady. Movie theaters simply cannot continue to operate on ticket sales alone because of the costs of licensing the rights to show the films, and other overhead costs. Therefore, if the movie theater did not charge you 6 bucks for popcorn, they would not be able to pay their employees and keep the lights on. So, I ask you -- what is so shady about that?

There’s a cheap theatre in Van Nuys that charges $7.50 on a Friday night. Hot dogs are $1.50. Popcorn is $1.75. Drinks are $2.00. How do they continue to operate without gouging? They’ve been open at least 9 years.

There are a few different ways I could respond to this...

a) Your anecdote, while an interesting data point, does not at all directly address the question I presented.

b) I don't know... I guess you'd have to ask their owner/accountant. Perhaps they aren't operating in the black like you assume? Perhaps, like many small businesses, they continue to operate at a loss for years before finally losing everything and closing down? By saying they are a "cheap theater" does that mean they are showing older movies (and therefore have much lower licensing fees and overhead)? If so, maybe they've found a sweet spot to make it work still? There are a number of reasons that this particular outlier of a theater has been able to stay in business. That doesn't change the fact that your "average" theater cannot operate without charging "exorbitant" prices for concessions.

c) [Being even more of a "devil's advocate here] Are they actually not gouging? Sure, $2.00 drinks and $1.75 popcorn and $1.50 hot dogs are nowhere near as expensive as the prices I pay at my local 24-screen Cinemark... but those prices you quote are still HUUUUGE markups of what that soda/popcorn costs them. So maybe they are gouging - just not at as big of an extent as the other theaters?

The point is, none of this automatically = shadiness. There are too many real-world considerations that you have to completely ignore to take an absolutist approach to what is "shady" in both movie theater operations and game development/publishing.

Just to pile more into this analogy, there’s also the wrinkle that regardless of the price of the popcorn, you know you are paying a set price for 1 bag of popcorn. Not quite the same as buying the chance to get something you want :)

Oooh, what if its more like the popcorn is $8, but you have a chance of getting it for $1. But you have to trade in the tootsie rolls they handed you the first 7 times your "chance" didn't work out.