Texting has been prohibited at the AMC movie theaters, said CEO Adam Aron, on Friday, April 15. He first made a statement to Variety, on Wednesday, saying that the company should allow “texting friendly” theaters because he claimed that 22-year-olds cannot be asked to turn off their phones. But, 48 hours later, the immediate backlash on social media made him take a different direction.
Some people, like Cheryl Eddy from the website io9, said that it was not necessary to make “texting friendly” theaters. Linda Holmes from NPR took another angle and said that blaming the 22-year-olds is ridiculous. Actor Elijah Wood said it was not just unnecessary but disrespectful to the audience and films to get these kinds of theaters.
The AMC Theatres, on Thursday, clarified on Twitter, saying, “We are considering allowing tests in very few screens [sic]. We know vast majority of audience wants no texting.” The company also added, “If ever, we would only pursue in a way that we can be totally confident ALL our guests will fully enjoy the moviegoing experience at AMC.”
The CEO made an online poll, getting that 97 percent of 460 votes opposed to the idea. So on Friday published on the theater’s Twitter account, that texting will not happen at the AMC in the near future. He added that the public spoke and they listened.
“This is an idea we have relegated to the cutting room floor,” Aron’s statement said. “With your advice in hand, there will be NO TEXTING ALLOWED in any of the auditoriums at AMC Theatres. Not today, not tomorrow and not in the foreseeable future.”
The comments were made during CinemaCon, an annual gathering of theater owners and exhibitors in Las Vegas.
Mr. Aron also said that the company plans to spend more than $1 billion on its theaters to improve them for the public.
Source: The Kansas City Star