When you’re watching a TV program at home, an advertisement often feels like an unwelcome interruption. There’s something about that cliffhanger moment when the screen fades to black and you realize it’s time for a commercial break that typically makes viewers groan. And often, those commercial breaks serve as a time to get up and grab a snack, run to the bathroom, or talk over the advertisements about what you’re watching on TV.
Now, compare this experience to the ads you see on the big screen when you enter a movie theater ahead of the trailers. You shuffle to your seat, popcorn in hand, and you watch those ads with an excitement and level of attentiveness rarely felt when consuming ads on tv. That’s the appeal of cinema advertising: viewers are outside of the comfort of their own living rooms and have ventured into the world, bringing a completely different mindset with them than they’d have while on the couch wrapped in a blanket. When you see a cinema advertisement, you’re not the same person you are when you see that same ad at home. You’ve already left the house, and you’re ready to consume media and spend money. Over the years, advertisers have discovered that out-of-the house mindset and found ways to use it to their advantage. Here’s a look back at the history of cinema advertising, and how advertisers have learned to make the most out of those few minutes before the feature presentation.
Early Cinema Advertising
We’ve become accustomed to seeing advertisements before a movie plays in the cinema, if you get there early enough. But these ads weren’t always embraced and have traveled a bit of a rocky road to get the prime placement they have today. It begins just before the turn of the 20th century, in some of the earliest “movie theaters” (run by the first versions of a film projector) of the late 1800’s. At this time, the home television set wasn’t invented yet, so on-screen advertisements were only seen at movie screenings and were common before a film began. Even as far back as silent films in the late 1800’s, advertisers were taking advantage of the opportunity for an audience, and early ads for cigarettes and railroad companies became the norm ahead of a film. But by the mid 1900’s, TVs were becoming a normal household item, and advertisers realized that they might have more success putting their work inside homes for regular viewing instead of at the cinema for special outings. For the next decade or so, cinema advertising became much less common.
Post WWII Consumerism: Ads Are Back In Theaters
Fast forward to the later half of the 1950’s. America has now seen the rise of glamorous movie theaters, the fall of those glamorous movie theaters as the country entered the great depression, the rise of more casual movie theaters for the blue collar worker, and the teaming-up of movie theaters and concession stands for a one-stop shop of treats and show. Now, it’s time to bring the cinema advertising back. The years of rationing during the war had created an America that was ready to go out and spend. A trip to the movies now came with a nearly automatic purchase of candy and popcorn, and advertisements for the movie theaters own concession stands became popular. At this time, movies still had intermissions, giving yet another opportunity for ads to show and moviegoers to head out into the lobby and spend money. Ads were often animated, with catchy jingles that were hard to get out of your head. They were cute, funny cartoons pointing you toward a product or a brand. But as the country exited its post-war era and moved into the 80’s and 90’s, cinema advertising changed once again.
The Domination Of Cigarettes And Booze
The 80s arrived, and it was time for cigarette and alcohol advertisements to shine. Gone, largely, were the cute, family-friendly animated jingles and in their place were advertisements that featured real actors, iconic faces, enticing you to purchase something that had a slightly illicit connotation. Legislation regulating alcohol advertising also may have helped to make the ads more appealing to both consumers and advertisers. Through the 90s, cinema advertising was dominated by these kind of advertisements, with famous faces and enticing plotlines, inching us closer to where we are today.
Larger Than Life: Present Day Cinema Advertising
Today, cinema ads come as video slots ranging from 15 to 60 seconds, though most stay at 30 seconds or less. They’re often colorful, immersive experiences, with music and vibrant visuals. Some feature a quick scene, some use comedic elements, and some get straight to the point, taking advantage of the attentive audience, the massive screen, and the enhanced audio experience to showcase a product in a memorable way. It’s common to utilize real-life sounds, like the cracking open of a soda can, to remind viewers of what they’re missing, remind them that they might want to grab a Diet Coke after the show. And brands often save their best ads for the cinema; maybe an extended, 90-second version of a TV ad shows prior to a movie at the theater, or, even more common, a specific advertisement will appear first in theaters before it appears on TV. Cinema advertising is more expensive than TV advertising, so they want to save the best ones for the big screen.
While movie theater attendance has dropped in the past decade, as streaming services have taken off and stolen some of the audience, there’s still significant value in cinema advertising. Streaming services can offer plenty of movies and shows, but they don’t take you out of the house, they don’t catch you in that ready-to-spend mindset. Cinemas do, and regardless of what else changes in the movie and TV landscape, the effect of cinema advertising will remain significant. After all, how can you ignore an advertisement when it’s larger than life?
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