Pop Goes The Munchies
LONDON: The time-honoured tradition of munching popcorn at the films may soon be just another bit of theatre lore in Britain. Increasing numbers of cinemas are banning it.
A combination of health-conscious cinema- goers rejecting sugar-coated popcorn and disgust at its distinctive smell is steadily spelling 'The End' for the snack in some arthouse cinema chains, the Sunday Observer reported.
It quoted Mr Daniel Broch, owner of the Everyman cinema in London's Hampstead district, who recently bought 17 more venues, as saying: 'I will de-popcorn every new venue I acquire.'
He added: 'It has a disproportionate influence on the space in terms of its overwhelming smell, the cultural idea of it and the operational problems created by the mess it produces.'
The Picturehouse Cinema, a chain of 19 cinemas across Britain, will experiment with popcorn-free screenings next month.
'Popcorn is a contentious issue. Lots of people absolutely hate it and have asked us to ban it, so we're going to do exactly that,' said the group's head of media, Mr Gabriel Swartland.
But other cinemas which tried to go popcorn-free found customers demanded it.
'Audiences in three venues...began asking for popcorn, so we provided it,' said Mr Richard Napper, marketing director of the Curzon chain. - AFP
CJS: Excellent move to oust the popcorn from the cinemas! Sunny Singapore should implement it too. Keep the booze flowing though! Aye!
