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A court has ordered a movie theater chain to list the exact time its movies start and not the time when the commercials begin. He was only awarded $230 in damages plus $92 for legal costs, but most importantly, it was a moral victory for every movie-goer the world over.
According to the Deccan Herald, the man sued the PVR INOX movie chain for showing ads for about 25 minutes from when the movie was listed as starting to when the film actually began, wasting his time. He also claimed that the ads delaying the film’s start time led to him not being able to get back to work on time, as was his plan.
He claimed in his lawsuit that the movie was scheduled to end at 6:30 p.m., but didn’t end until a little before 7 p.m. because of the two public service announcements and 17 commercials that aired after the film was supposed to have begun. The “trailers, advertisements and other fillers which wasted nearly 30 mins of the time of the complainant along with the other viewers,” he said, caused him to suffer “losses which cannot be calculated in terms of money.”
The court agreed with his complaints and ruled that PVR INOX, which operates more than 900 screens in 173 cinemas, can no longer “engage in unfair practice and waste moviegoer’s time by showing long commercial ads during the time slot meant to exhibit the movie itself.” It also stated that “time is money” and that “spending 25 to 30 minutes watching advertisements is a significant waste of time, especially for individuals with tight schedules. People seek entertainment for relaxation, but that does not mean they have no other responsibilities.”
His win in court may help bolster Connecticut State Senator Martin Looney’s bid to pass a bill here in the United States that would “require that each movie advertisement or listing include, and separately list, the scheduled start time for (1) the movie trailers and advertisements that precede the advertised or listed movie, and (2) the advertised or listed movie.”
Content shared from brobible.com.