Chinese woman sues cinema hall for excessive ads

BEIJING - A woman in China has sued a cinema hall and the distributors of a movie, claiming excessive advertising wasted her time and violated her freedom of choice.

The suit filed by movie-goer Chen Xiaomei has been accepted by the People’s Court of Yanta district in Xi’an, Xinhua news agency quoted a statement from the court.

Chen saw the movie twice at the Xi’an Polybona International Cinema (Polybona).

She said that there was no warning or indication on the ticket that advertisements before the film would run to 20 minutes.

The suit stated that the movie-goers didn’t know how long the commercials would last. They had to wait for the film to start, wasting their time and violating their right to know and to choose.

Chen is demanding the Polybona and Huayi Brothers Media Corporation, “Aftershock” copyright owner and distributor, refund her ticket price of 35 yuan ($5.16), pay another 35 yuan in compensation and 1 yuan for emotional damages.

She has also demanded a written apology.

Chen suggested that the cinema should clearly state the advertisement time on its website, in the lobby or on its customer hotline. She asked Huayi Brothers to shorten the commercial time to less than five minutes.

“Aftershock”, which tells the story of an earthquake that devastated China’s Tangshan City in 1976, had raked in a record 650 million yuan at the Chinese mainland box office as of Tuesday last week, according to a statement from Huayi Brothers issued Wednesday.

The tear-jerker, directed by Feng Xiaogang, surpassed the takings of “The Founding of a Republic”, which earned 420 million yuan in 2009.