In an era of recordings, be very careful of what you, the angry customer, leave on the phone

In Austin, TX, there is a chain of movie theatres called Alamo Drafthouse. Apparently, a young woman who was texting was removed from one of their theatres, and later she left a profanity-laced message (in badly executed English that may or may not have been due to inebriation) on the theatre's voicemail. So the theatre made a PSA (public service announcement) from it and is running it before their R-rated movies (due to the language). Here is a censored version.



Texas movie theater makes an example (and a PSA) of a texting audience member

According to Tim League, the Drafthouse's founder, the woman in question was warned twice about texting during a screening, and then, in accordance with company policy, was escorted out without a refund. "I don't think people realize that it is distracting," League told The Lookout. "It seems like nothing, but if you spend as much time as I do at the movies, you realize the entire theater sees it and it pulls you out of the movie experience. It's every bit as intrusvie as talking."

So apparently the theatre and the owner have a sense of humour, as this proves as well:

Perhaps the latest PSA will pre-empt such unfortunate film-related incidents. "We didn't expect it to blow up like it did," said League, of the spot that as of this writing had just shy of 400,000 views on YouTube. "It's cool, it's drawing national attention to an issue and letting people realize that their behavior is selfish. Maybe in some small way it will make it better to see a film all over the place."

"Ma'am, you may be free to text in all the other theaters in the Magnited States of America, but here at our 'little crappy ass theater,' you are not," he wrote on the Alamo Drafthouse's blog. "Why you may ask? Well, we actually do give a f*$k."

:)