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Going to the movies can be an expensive trip, between the tickets and any snacks to munch on. Since the pandemic, movie theaters have been trying to find new ways to get people to come to the theaters, and since the now infamous Dune popcorn bucket, major movie titles have offered their own fancy bucket to add one more collectable to the shelf. But why are we so obsessed by these popcorn buckets?
Published by Northeastern Global News, marketing professor Chad O’Connor at Northeastern University and communications professor Steve Granelli, also from Northeastern, give us some insight onto why these buckets have been such a powerful marketing tool for theaters. Granelli attributes the popularity of the popcorn buckets to collectivist culture that surrounds certain franchises of movies. On the topic of the popcorn bucket’s place in the eyes of a collector, big or small, he had this to say:
The bucket gave fans an opportunity to be able to display their fandom in a way to suggest, ‘Yes, I was there. Yes, I paid the extra money to get the popcorn bucket. Yes, I still have the bucket. This is what level of fan I am.’
Using Marvel as an example, you can find a collectable of about everything from the tesseract to a replica of Captain America’s broken shield going for a whopping $400. There’s a collectable for anyone and everyone. These buckets on average cost between $20 to $35, so thankfully not nearly as expensive. And while this seems like an apples to oranges comparison, the willingness to buy any collectable, not just the buckets, depends on classic consumer psychology, according to O’Connor. He goes on to explain it as such:
You’re giving people something that a good number of them are going to look at as special and collector’s item worthy, and when you do that, the psychology of that willingness in price point is radically different.
Both Granelli and O’Connor chalk the popularity of popcorn buckets to the “limited edition” aspect of collecting. Certain buckets, like Colosseum-shaped bucket for Gladiator II was only available at Cinemark theaters, but there was also a helmet-style one that was only available at Regal. This is a rather ingenious marketing; it incentivizes people to go to different theaters to get the buckets they want as part of their collection. On a similar thread, Sonic 3’s popcorn bucket included a character that wasn’t previously part of the movies marketing.
In both examples, the existence of a special bucket gives a more theatrical experience outside of just the movie itself. O’Connor calls this another attempt to make people want to leave their couches. The pandemic incentivized people to just wait for release on streaming services, so the theaters need something else to get people to show up. And if you want the bucket for your collection, you either go see the movie in theaters or fight to get a good price from scalpers and resellers.
Giving credit where credit is due, it is working. I myself have been tempted to get a popcorn bucket just because it looks cool. The one released for Nosferatu was so cool and I’m a little bummed I missed out on my chance for it.
Many movie-goers like myself grew up in the era of tchotchkes and collectables courtesy of Happy Meals, so this is the kind of marketing comeback that some people take hook, line, and sinker. And I’d be lying if I said it isn’t cool to see the psychology behind marketing choices like the popcorn buckets.