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On Friday the AMC movie theater chain scrapped its tone deaf idea of attracting millennials to its theaters by allowing movie-goers to text while watching films. AMC says the proposal it floated this week has been relegated to the cutting room floor. USA TODAY
Texting-friendly screens — coming soon to AMC?(Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN, AFP/Getty Images)
AMC Theatres is changing the script on plans to allow moviegoers to text in the theater.
The movie theater chain said Friday it will scrap plans to allow some theater patrons to text during movies, a move its CEO had said it considered to attract more millennials.
"We have heard loud and clear this is a concept our audience does not want," said AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron said in a statement.
AMC's about-face follows an interview Aron
gave to Variety, where he suggested making some theaters friendlier to moviegoers who want to use their smartphones while watching a movie.
USA TODAY
AMC may allow texting during movies, because millennials
"When you tell a 22-year-old to turn off the phone, don’t ruin the movie, they hear please cut off your left arm above the elbow," said Aron. "You can’t tell a 22-year-old to turn off their cellphone. That’s not how they live their life."
On Twitter, reaction to Aron's idea was swift, and overwhelmingly negative.
Aron says the company will focus on other plans to entice more consumers to go to the movies, including investing more than $1 billion to enhance theaters and their systems.
"With your advice at hand, there will be NO TEXTING ALLOWED in any of the auditoriums at AMC Theatres," he says. "Not today, not tomorrow, and not in the foreseeable future."
The harsh reaction to AMC's proposal falls in line with U.S. sentiment on when it's appropriate to use a smartphone. According to a national survey
conducted by Pew Research Center, 95% of Americans polled said it's no OK to use a smartphone "at the movie theater or other places where others are usually quiet."
Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.
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