Orange Wednesday- how does it work?

Question

I went to the cinema tonight (if you haven't already seen Wall-e, do so... it's brilliant. Anyway...) and used our Orange Wednesday code to get a free ticket. I noticed that they had a special machine to enter the code in.

Anyway, the cinema was heaving- so much so that we missed the first 25 minutes (mainly adverts) and I think this was due to the Orange promotion.

What I want to know is, who pays? Does Orange pay the cinema the cost of the free ticket, or do the cinemas get so much extra custom that they allow Orange to do it for free?

Can cinemas opt out of the promotion? Is it financially viable for all of them?

Answer 1

Who Pays:  The arrangement was made for the benefit for Orange Home and the Cinemas. Orange Home wanted something to give as a benefit to it's customers that would be universally useful such as a movie ticket.  The cinema benefits because it receives more exposure via the promotion. The exact revenue arrangement is private but the normal arrangement is a revenue or liability sharing scheme.

Can the cinemas opt out:  If a specific theater agreed in advance it is illegal to opt out.  If a specific theater did not want to participate, yes it opted out before the promotion began.

Is it financially viable:  If the promotion was successful in the eyes of each party then yes it was successful.  Wednesdays are a slow day for movie viewing.  Theaters make a large portion of their money on concessions.  Any thing that gets a person in the theater is generally a bonus.  Since wednesdays are slow, even one extra person usually generates more profits as long as it does not steal attendance from another day.  For Orange it is viable because it gives them a low cost giveaway to it's members.  

Good Luck