One sign of the times is that movie halls are closing one by one around us, victims to the surge in electronic alternatives. We know this from direct observation – they really are closing – but I had an unexpected demonstration of this fact in a TV ad.

The ad was by the Hot cable company we subscribe to, and was aimed to convince us to use their Video on Demand service. It showed how difficult it supposedly is to get a movie without their VOD: it graphically showed how you need to go down 20 stairs to the street, walk a mile to the Videomat, check if it has a movie you want. No? Walk another mile to the video store, get the movie, walk back… you get the idea.

Nice ad, but what amused me is that 20 years ago they would’ve said “Go down 20 stairs, get in the car, ride downtown, and enter the movie theater”. These days, that just isn’t seen as a viable alternative! You’re expected to either slump on the couch in front of a cable movie, or rent a video and slump in front of that… and these guys want to deprive you of even the little exercise you’d get walking to the video store  🙁