AMC Won't Allow Texting at Movies After All
AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron has retracted his suggestion that the theater chain might allow texting during movies.
The controversy began earlier this week, when Aron told Variety that he was open to lifting the chain's ban on texting — and that millennials moviegoers have actually demanded it.
When Aron said his company had to do more to appeal to millennials, Variety senior film and media reporter Brent Lang asked, "Would appealing to millennials involve allowing texting or cellphone use?" Aron responded,
"Yes. 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."
Aron went on to suggest that AMC might offer some "texting friendly" auditoriums for people so inclined.
However, moviegoers responded on Twitter in outrage.
Today, Aron addressed the complaints in his own twitter post, which reads, in part:
"With your advice in hand, there will be NO TEXTING ALLOWED in any of the auditoriums at AMC Theatres. Not today, not tomorrow, and not in the foreseeable future."
No word on how 22-year-olds are taking the news.