According to a recent study conducted by Cologne University, eating popcorn while at the movies makes the moviegoer immune to advertisements before the movie, this phenomenon is the result of our inner speech being disrupted by our chewing. As a result of our inner speech being disrupted, we are unable to repeat the pronunciation of a new name we hear when we encounter it, thus we become immune to advertising.

This phenomenon affects the promotion part of the four p’s, meaning communicating the benefit a good can give you through movie advertisements is obstructed by the theater’s popcorn revenue. Seeing as moviegoers can become immune to movie advertising by eating popcorn, we can conclude that the effectiveness of these advertisements will be put to the test over the coming years.

Furthermore, the movie theater has strong connections with the advertising companies who pay the theater to show the advertisements. This raises the question of how the nature of the partnership between theaters and advertising companies will change over time. At the moment, it looks as though theaters will be choosing between popcorn revenue and advertising revenue.

From the consumer’s point of view this could make the popcorn bought seem worth the $10, considering you are no longer affected by advertisements. This could be profitable to movie theaters if they market this effect popcorn has properly, but at the same time it could hurt the relationship between theaters and advertising companies.