The Dangers of Food as Entertainment, Research Paper Example

Observing the Concession Stand at an AMC Theater

Movie theaters might not be solely responsible for the increase in national obesity rates, but they certainly aren’t helping Americans to make healthier choices when it comes to the snacks that they consume at the movies.  For my cultural happening, I chose to visit the AMC movie theater at the Arcadia Mall in Santa Anita.  My intention wasn’t to view a film, but to observe the theater’s approach to the food it sells and the manner in which film-goers reacted to the food on offer.  My entirely non-scientific observation took place over a period of three hours and underscored what I already expected:  that people love buying popcorn, chocolate, soda, and other calorie-laden snacks to eat during their movie viewing experience.  I observed a direct relationship between the unhealthy food available at the concession stand and the physical condition of many of the theater patrons; while not all of these people could be termed as overweight or obese, a great many of them did not appear to be in the best of health.  While it would be incorrect to assume a direct relationship between obesity and movie theater food, my observations suggest that this specific AMC theater does little to assist in the promotion of healthy food alternatives.

The high price of movie theater snacks and the long lineups at the concession stand did not seem to dissuade theatergoers from purchasing snacks.  Indeed, I watched over a dozen people arrive at the theater after all of the movies had begun who still took the time to buy popcorn and drinks.  As well, I saw a number of people go to the concession stand while the movies were well underway.  This suggests to me that the consumption of snacks can sometimes take precedence over the actual viewing of films or, at the very least, that many people so associate popcorn and movies that they have difficult doing one without the other.  In his article “A History of Popcorn and the Movies,” Will Wright suggests that popcorn has become “an integral part of the movie experience” (Wright), and that “the thought of going to a theater and watching a movie without that barrel of popcorn is almost unthinkable” (Wright).  The Arcadia Mall theater has certainly capitalized on this connection, offering promotional tie-ins to current films, free toys that come with children’s popcorn ‘meals’, and free refills on large sodas and popcorn.  This gives the illusion that the movie theater has the best interests of its clientele in mind and wishes to provide them with ‘deals’ to help them stretch their dollars along with their waistlines.

However, if the AMC Corporation was truly concerned about the needs of movie patrons, it might think twice about its recent resistance to new FDA rules requiring restaurants and other establishments that serve food to make their nutritional guidelines available to the public.  The National Association of Film Owners, of which AMC is a member, has engaged in successful lobbying of the FDA to ensure that theaters are considered exempt under the new mandate because their “primary purpose is not to sell food” (Saletan).  This is a debatable argument, however, and irrelevant if the purpose of the new legislation is to ensure that consumers are fully aware of what they are consuming.  As William Saletan writes in a recent edition of Slate, “The question raised by the FDA rule is why Regal, Cinemark, or AMC should be exempt from the menu-labeling rules we apply to McDonald’s. The exemption seems particularly unjust when theater chains serve nothing but junk food, withhold nutritional information, misrepresent their calorie and fat content, and forbid customers from eating anything healthier” (Saletan).  AMC’s reluctance to provide nutritional guidelines for their food makes it appear that they have something to hide.  An investigation of their website’s FAQ section finds only a terse “No nutritional information is available at this time” (AMC) in response to a question about the calorie-count of their popcorn.  According to an independent study conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest found that popcorn sold by AMC “contained from 370 calories to 1,460 calories depending on the serving size and whether butter-flavored toppings were added.  A ‘moderately active’ man who is 26 to 45 years old should consume 2,600 calories in a day, according to guidelines published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture” (Young).  With no healthy food alternatives available, and moviegoers explicitly forbidden from bringing outside food into the AMC theater (notices to that effect are posted on the company website and around the theater itself), it seems as if patrons are being presented with two choices:  go hungry or get fat.

The sale of popcorn and other fattening snacks at the movies is about far more than satiating consumers’ cravings.  I literally saw dozens upon dozens of people walking away from the theater’s concession stands carrying twenty or thirty dollars worth of snacks in their hands.  It would be easy to spend the price of a good restaurant dinner on a bag of popcorn, some candy, and a large drink.  However, according to Regal Cinemas CFO David Ownby, the cost of producing movie theater food is much less than the company earns by selling it with “a six-dollar bucket of popcorn [costing] the chain 15 to 20 cents” (Saletan).  From a marketing perspective, it would seem that the primary purpose of companies like AMC is to sell popcorn, rather than movie tickets which act solely to lure patrons to the concession stand.  As Will Wright writes, “although roughly 67% of revenue comes from ticket sales, this accounts for less than half of theater profits. Popcorn, other refreshments and arcade games are the big profit centers for theaters. Unlike movie ticket prices–which the theater must split with studios–theaters can keep 100% of popcorn profits” (Wright).  While I’m certain that theaters could find a way to charge high prices for healthy food as easily as they do for junk food, they’ve already established a sales strategy that works well for them.  Obesity may be “one of the biggest public health challenges the country has ever faced” (Reuters), however movie theaters are profit-making enterprises; it is their financial bottom line that matters most, even at the expense of their customers’ health.

The issue of the unhealthiness of movie theater snacks is about more than the health of those who consume them.  Indeed, it speaks to the importance of personal awareness and the individual’s right to choose what they put into their own body.  It seems naive and even condescending to assume that the people who purchase food from movie theater concession stands are unaware that such snacks might not be the healthiest of choices.  Perhaps the allure of popcorn and all of the other sugary and fat-laden treats available at the concession stand is that these items aren’t good for you.  The act of watching a movie is about losing oneself in the fantasies that appear onscreen.  As part and parcel of this experience, the snacks that can be purchased at movie theaters are also complicit in this fantasy.  Moviegoers don’t want to worry about calorie counts and fat content at the movies.  Instead, they’ve paid their money to avoid thinking about reality and all of its inherent complications, thereby indulging in the fantasy that a large buttered popcorn and Coke won’t effect their health, budget, or weight.

Works Cited

“AMC Help & FAQ.”  AMC Theaters.  AMC Entertainment, 2010.  Web.  10 June 2011.”Americans Getting Fatter, Especially in the South.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 29 June 2010.  Web.  10 June 2011.

Saletan, William. “Don’t Touch Anything But My Junk.” Slate Magazine. Slate, 5 April 2011. Web. 10 June 2011.

Wright, Will.  “A History of Popcorn and the Movies.”  Associated Content. Yahoo Inc., 11 May 2007. Web. 10 June 2011.

Young, Jeffrey. “Movie Theaters Fight to Keep 1460 Calorie Popcorn from Rule.” Bloomberg Businessweek.  Bloomberg.com, 10 March 2011.  Web.  10 June 2011.