Are Movie Theaters Attempting to Phase Popcorn Out of Their Menu?

*Originally published on 4/12/10


I came across an article a couple of weeks ago that talked about a movie theater executive who plans to alter the menu so that it is more health based.

Popcorn has long been a staple of the movie going experience and to suggest that you eliminate it in favor of vegetables borders on madness.

I don't understand this mindset that people gained weight because places like McDonald's didn't offer healthy alternatives. If you're in the mood for something healthy, don't go to McDonald's. If you're in the mood for a burger and fries, go for it. There's nothing wrong with eating there once in a while, going there all the time, however, is not a good idea. No one's making you go there for every meal, so how is it their fault?

The same goes here. People go on about how many calories the popcorn and soda have. If you're trying to cut back, don't get them. There's no rule that says if you go to the movie theater that you have to buy popcorn and snacks. On the off chance that you do want something to snack on, you can always go for the small size. Those gargantuan tubs are great if you have a group of people, but you can cut back.

The article does provide some viable alternatives, air popped popcorn for example, or maybe replacing the "butter flavored substitute" with margarine. That I can get behind.

Truth be told, if all they want to do is expand the menu I have no problem with that either. If they wanted to expand their beverage menu to include milk and various kinds of juice in addition to the traditional soda, I wouldn't mind that.

Heck, some fruits make for great snacks. Pieces of watermelon or grapes would make for a great movie viewing snack. It is also a cost cutter as those simultaneously satisfy your hunger and quench your thirst.

One of the readers made a comment saying that they would probably charge a lot of money for the healthier alternatives. They probably would too, if a candy bar costs 3 bucks, you gotta figure a banana would go for six or seven.

If they want to expand the menu, that's all well and good. It would probably be to their benefit since more people would buy products and a vast majority of the theaters revenue comes from snacks. Who knows, with a wider customer base, they might even be able to knock down the price on a few of those items and give consumers' wallets a break.

It's when they start talking about replacing that I get vexed. There's nothing wrong with snacking on a candy bar or a bucket of popcorn every once in a while. When eaten sparingly, it's fine. People should be able to indulge their sweet tooth every once in a while. Just the same, people should be able to get a healthy snack if they want one, so I say go ahead and expand the menu, but don't try to remove a movie theater staple. That's just not cool.

Source

http://www.popeater.com/2010/03/17/healthy-food-movie-theater/