Anger over more ads at movies

Kiwi movie patrons have seen more action on the screen this week - but some don't rate extra ads as value for money.

A five-minute sponsored film on the history of DB Export has been added to regular advertising and preview trailers, making movie-goers wait more than 20 minutes to see the feature film - and it has upset some.

However, Event Cinemas says its pre-movie fare was only extended at some sittings in Wellington and Auckland over the past week. It says the longest people had to wait for the main movie was 22 minutes, with the average slot taking 15 minutes.

The explanation might appease Auckland marketing assistant Moniquea Frear, who vowed to boycott the major cinema companies in the wake of her experience at screening of The Social Network.

"It's deceiving. They lure you in at 8pm, saying that's when the session starts, then you're forced to watch ads for nearly half-an-hour," Frear said.

"It was completely stupid. I was clock watching I was so bored."

Val Morgan advertising sales director Natasha O'Connor said she was frustrated Event Cinemas had started to run longer sessions of advertising. The agency was allocated 12 minutes for every movie, but she said companies could also buy space directly from the cinema, as in the case of the DB segment.

"Cinema advertising is very effective, but you can't abuse it. We were approached to do the five-minute ad [for DB Export beer] but we refused. It's annoying for the punters to have to sit through that," O'Connor said.

Event Cinemas general manager Jane Hastings said rules on pre-film showings were that 12 minutes was allowed for ads and a maximum of four movie trailers. Event had had no complaints and extended the number of films it previewed because of demand.