Daniel Munslow An interesting topic that was raised at a braai not too long ago was the value of cinema advertising. This is a topic that I must admit I haven’t given too much thought before. The point that was raised was around the number of people who are actually not in the cinema before the actual movie starts, but are rather buying their popcorn, drinks, etc. After the discussion, and given the number of relatively good movies that have been out on circuit lately, I have certainly noticed a trend whereby not all, but certainly a sizeable percentage of people, are not in the cinema house for the full duration of the adverts. At the cinema I go to, I usually buy my tickets online, then get to the movie house 20 minutes before the show starts and then have to queue for about 25 minutes to get my popcorn and coke. When I walk into the cinema, there is an equally long queue for other movies starting within 10-15 minutes. I usually catch the last two or three ads before the movie starts. A handful of people even walk in five minutes after the movie starts. I suppose this is a mute point to a degree, as there is very little that can be done to get ‘bums in seats’ earlier to ensure that everyone watches the ads. This is sad, as they seem to have a longer-lasting impact than certain other types of ads. The advertisers certainly do get their value out of the movie house ads, and many of the ads that I have seen even elicit a response of some sort from the captive audience.