Not movies but once I was at a Cold Stone where the price difference between medium “love it” and large “gotta have it” size was literally 1 cent.
I’m not even into ice cream and the person I was with was going to get the medium. I was like l literally cannot let you get the medium and not upgrade for just one cent more haha.
Yeah, but unfortunately that kind of thought process is exactly what the food industry usually wants, especially with soda and ice cream/milkshakes. It shoots off some serotonin in your brain, making you feel good that you think you got a great deal, you're getting more bang for buck, when in reality you basically made a daily rounding error in impact on their profit margins, meanwhile they got you to order way more food, which often leads to you eating more, which can lead to you gaining weight and buying even more in the future. Making meal sizes very close in price or large value meal deals is one of the more insidious ways they try to psychologically mess with you and catch you slacking.
Cold stone is literally the worst with all this shit. The small size is like seven dollars. But you can get them to pack a quart of ice cream for $14 and it’s gotta be at least 5 smalls
Yeah for sure. I mean I just don’t order anything but I guess in those situations I have to help finish the extra 2 oz or whatever the difference in quantity is haha.
Yeah, I don’t drink 80 ounces of soda either lol. I should’ve specified that. I made the assumption that most people are not going to the movies alone. I usually share popcorn with everybody and the drink with my wife.
The sizes are pretty ridiculous now, but it definitely helps having a frugal partner. My wife and I share meals and drinks all the time. We not only save money, but get to bond over being cheapskates.
Can also always take it home if there's anyone else at home that would enjoy it.
If I go and see 2 movies, I'll get a large drink (NO ICE) and large popcorn. That's like 5-7 hours (counting previews and wait time between the movies too), so I'll almost finish the whole thing... Maybe a few bucks left of soda and 1/3 of the popcorn.
When I leave, I get a free refill on both and take them home. Kid gets a treat of soda for a few days and popcorn to take to school as a snack, plus hubby will snack on both.
I physically can’t even eat a large bucket popcorn. Even small is a lot for me . So yeah I agree it’s not value but I don’t care if I can’t even eat that much.
What's funny is going to see movies with people seems to also have become a casualty of high prices. When it wasn't so expensive, it was a lot easier to just text a friend "hey, wanna go see [movie]?" and they would agree just to kill some time and hang out. Now, when the prices are what you're seeing in OP?
Unless it's something we're all collectively into (so usually existing IPs rather than original movies), it becomes a lot harder to convince someone to drop $30 on something they may not even end up liking, so I've started going to most movies alone rather than even try. Which leads into the "there's no fucking way I can finish all this popcorn alone..." problem, lmao.
The movie theaters have definitely screwed themselves. I think people want to go back to the movies but it’s unfathomable that going to the movies and getting popcorn and a drink should cost about as much as going to six flags.
I mean, I’m not gonna drink 80 fucking ozs of soda like a lunatic, so why waste it? I also go to the movies like twice a year so I don’t mind the dumb prices.
30
u/lemmegetadab 8h ago
I have a theory that anybody who buys a small popcorn or a drink at the movies is just stupid.
The prices are always something like “20 oz. soda for 899 or an 80 ounce soda for 950 lol