Disney No-Ad Policy in Movie Theaters Sparks New Debate

The Walt Disney Co. may have instituted a new no on-screen advertising policy with its release last Friday of “Pretty Woman,” but it doesn’t mean ads are going to disappear from the theaters.

Disney’s policy has ignited a debate in the film industry--one that has set Disney apart from the seven other major studios, divided the ranks of movie chain operators between those who show ads and those who don’t and set up a gray area for the theaters that will continue to show ads, but only in front of non-Disney movies.

Then there are the exceptions to the Disney rule, like slides that are projected on screens before the lights go down or for theaters which have pre-existing advertising contracts that must run their course.

Beyond those, there is the question of what constitutes an on-screen ad? Are they the slides shown on screens before the lights go down? The spots for Coca-Cola or the Los Angeles Times that precede a feature film? The previews of coming attractions? The casually placed Sony TV or Chevrolet Camaro or trip to Walt Disney World that may find their way into the storyline of a movie?

One theater chain representative, speaking on the condition that he not be named, asked: “Where do you draw the line? If you restrict ads from the screen, do you also restrict ads in the lobbies? And what about those subtle plugs you see for products in the movies themselves?”

Richard Cook, president of Disney’s Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, makes a distinction between ads for products and ads for other movies--usually known as trailers or previews. “Audiences want to see trailers. It’s a welcome addition to the experience,” he said. “(The difference is) you’re talking about motion pictures to moviegoers.”

Cook said his office received “hundreds and hundreds” of calls and letters of support from the ticket-buying public in the days after Disney announced the new policy to exhibitors gathered last month in Las Vegas for the ShoWest convention. “We had five boxloads of letters,” said Cook, adding that all you have to do to gauge an audience’s feelings about ads is to sit in a theater with them and listen to them hiss.

Disney is in a strong position right now to enforce its policy, exhibitors and others in the business agree. The studio has an apparently strong slate of upcoming films, and commercials were only being shown in about half of the nation’s estimated 23,000 first-run theaters anyway.

But despite the huge public support for Disney’s position, the studio isn’t exactly leading a charge. None of the other seven major studios has spoken out against in-theater advertising, and when contacted by The Times for this story, none was anxious to throw in with Disney.

“I applaud (the policy) as a consumer,” said 20th Century Fox marketing and distribution chief Tom Sherak. “But it’s not up to me to tell them (theater owners) that they should or shouldn’t do it. It has to come from the patronage. Exhibitors should sit in their theaters and see what the public sees. They might see that they might be hurting themselves in the long run.”

Cook says the realities of the market will ultimately determine the fate of screen advertising. With theater admissions relatively static for the last 10 years, it cannot afford to risk erosion by giving them something they clearly don’t want. In some parts of the country, he says, audiences are having to sit through 8 to 10 minutes of commercials before the feature begins.

Privately, some of Disney’s distribution rivals call the no-ads policy a blatant public relations ploy. The move was also seen by some industry observers as a well-aimed volley in Disney’s increasingly public feud with MCA-Universal.

MCA owns a 50% non-controlling interest in Toronto-based Cineplex Odeon, the second-largest theater chain in North America. In most of its 1,930 theaters, the chain shows commercials.

Jo Mira Clodman, Cineplex vice president of corporate communications, confirmed that among the ads shown on Cineplex screens--even those showing Disney movies--are those for the relatively new Universal Studios Florida theme park, a direct rival to the nearby Walt Disney World complex.

Cook, in response to a question about the timing of the Disney policy, said, “The impetus was not any one ad in particular.” He said it is the concept of screen advertising that is the issue.

The lone exception to Disney’s policy is the use of slide ads shown during intermissions. In addition to plugs for the local car wash and video store, the “pre-screening” slides include public service announcements, trivia games and promotions. Cook says Disney’s policy doesn’t kick in until the lights go down and the movie-going experience begins, so slides are fine.

Because of pre-existing contracts, some people seeing “Pretty Woman” over the weekend may have seen commercials. Disney could not say how many of the 1,325 theaters where “Pretty Woman” is booked had such contracts. But when those contracts expire, it’s a new, commercial-free game in Disney’s world.

Last week, the nation’s largest theater chain, the 2,700-screen Denver-based United Artists Theater Circuit, announced it will go along with the Disney advertising ban, but only on the screens where Disney films are shown.

As for the bulk of the United Artist theaters where Disney films are not shown, John Neal, vice president of communications for parent company United Artists Entertainment, said the theaters will continue to show ads for Coca-Cola, which it has been running since January. The United Artist chain, which sells Coke products, and the soft drink maker have an advertising arrangement, and the Coke ads are the only ones that United Artist theaters show on a national basis. However, Neal added, local United Artist managers may make private contracts for local advertising, such as with The Times.

A few weeks after the Disney announcement, Cook confirmed that he met with representatives of the Los Angeles Times about the newspaper’s on-screen promotions that are shown on about 1,000 screens throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties. Cook said a Times request for an exception was denied.

“You can’t make exceptions. We’re not talking about the quality of commercials, rather the idea of having the commercials in front of movies.”

Cook notes that longstanding contracts between The Times and theater chains will keep the newspaper’s ads on many screens where Disney films are shown for the immediate future.

The Times and theaters have had an arrangement for years--40 years in some cases--that provides theater owners with a discount on the rates they pay for movie listings. Unnamed chain sources were quoted in a recent Daily Variety story estimating their savings from the Times trade-out at about $2 million a year.

A Times spokeswoman, Donna Freed, confirmed that the newspaper had sought an exception from Disney for the 30-second ads. “We feel the trailers are in keeping with the entertainment. It’s not a hard sell,” Freed added.