You Won't Be Texting in AMC Movie Theaters After All
"We have heard loud and clear that this is a concept our audience does not want."
Earlier this week, an executive at movie theater chain AMC floated the idea of making some of its theaters texting-friendly in an attempt to bring in more business from millennials. After facing a wave of criticism, the company has now announced that it has no plans to pursue anything of this nature.
In a statement released this morning, AMC said the feedback on this idea has been "loud and clear."
"Unlike the many AMC advancements that you have applauded, we have heard lour and clear that this is a concept our audience does not want," it explained. "In this age of social media, we get feedback from you almost instantaneously and as such, we are constantly listening. Accordingly, just as instantaneously, this is an idea that we have relegated to the cutting room floor."
It goes on: "With your advice in hand, there will be NO TEXTING ALLOWED in any of the auditoriums at AMC Theatres. Not today, not tomorrow, and not in the foreseeable future."
AMC went on to say that it plans to continue to be "as creative as we can to" improve the movie-going experience. The company mentioned it's spending an estimated $1 billion to enhance its theaters and systems with new sound and audio offerings, among other things.
Any new advancements that AMC makes to its theaters will be done in such a way to never "compromise your love of coming out to the movies." You can read the full statement here.
This all stems from an interview that AMC CEO Adam Aron gave to Variety this week. He said the theater chain--one of the biggest in the country--would consider lifting its ban on texting during movies in a bid to get more young people to come out to the movies.
He said one idea was to have certain sections of theaters "texter-friendly," while another possibility was to designate entire theaters as being open to people who want to text during a film.
"When you tell a 22-year-old to turn off the phone, don't ruin the movie, they hear, 'Please cut off your left arm above the elbow,'" Aron said. "You can't tell a 22-year-old to turn off their cellphone. That's not how they live their life.
"At the same time, though, we're going to have to figure out a way to do it that doesn't disturb today's audiences. There's a reason there are ads up there saying turn off your phone, because today's moviegoer doesn't want somebody sitting next to them texting or having their phone on."
He's also followed up his original comments with a new statement on Twitter.
Press reported we considering a test allowing texts in a VERY FEW screens. We know vast majority of audience wants no texting (1 of 2)
— Adam Aron (@CEOAdam) April 14, 2016
IF ever, we ONLY would pursue in a way we'd be TOTALLY confident ALL our guests will fully enjoy movie going experience at AMC (2 of 2)
— Adam Aron (@CEOAdam) April 14, 2016
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