In an example of the extreme lengths companies may be willing to go to in order to secure that most coveted customer, the millennial, AMC Theaters might go ahead and let people text during movies.
Because losing access to their phones is like losing a limb for millennials, AMC Entertainment’s brand new CEO says he’s mulling the idea of figuring out a way to include texting in the moviegoing experience.
Noting that millennials are consumers who might not be seeing as many moves in theaters, Adam Aron, who took the CEO mantle at AMC four months ago, tells Variety that the company has to change its product in some ways “so that millennials go to movie theaters with the same degree of intensity as baby boomers went to movie theaters throughout their lives.”
When asked if one way to appeal to millennials might be allowing texting or cellphone use, Aron said that could be an option. Hey, it’s better than emotional amputation, which is apparently what it comes down to every time those poor souls are forced to separate themselves from the glowing light of their phone screen.
“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 says. “You can’t tell a 22-year-old to turn off their cellphone. That’s not how they live their life.”
As if he could already hear the grumbling from those folks out there who’d prefer not to have bright screens blaring light during the movie experience, Aron admits that the company will have to figure out a way to do it that doesn’t tick everyone off. One such solution could be a certain section for texting, he says, but it’s more likely that they’d make specific auditoriums “more texting friendly.”
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AMC Entertainment CEO Open to Allowing Texting in Some Theaters [Variety]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
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