LOS ANGELES (AP) – Oops. The idea lasted about as long as a Snapchat text: the head of AMC Theatres mulled openly about creating texting-friendly movie theaters to appeal to smartphone-addicted youngsters. Two days later, after a backlash on social media, the company says it’s leaving the idea on “the cutting room floor.”
Adam Aron, who became CEO of AMC Entertainment Holdings in December, told Variety magazine for a story Wednesday that the company would consider allowing cellphone use in some theaters to appeal to 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.’ You can’t tell a 22-year-old to turn off their cellphone. That’s not how they live their life,” he said.
That’s when the Twitter-verse unleashed a torrent of criticism on the plan.
“AMC Theaters want to allow texting in movie theaters. In other news, I’ll never go to AMC Theaters ever again,” tweeted Fox News reporter Jake Hamilton.