Movies for Babies and Parents. As rewarding as raising children may be, new parents often lament their childfree days, when they could dash out to a movie at a moment’s notice. For many parents, a night out at the movies would be too expensive or guilt-ridden, given the need for a babysitter. Until their children reached the age for Disney classics, these parents eschewed movies. But movie theatres have finally realized that parents with young children pose a lucrative niche market. Famous Players will expand Famous Babies to 25 Canadian theatres next month. The promotion includes first-run films, lowered sound, baby change area with free diapers and wipes,and stroller parking. Over at Cineplex, parents can take part in Stars & Strollers.
Vancouver’s Ridge Theatre offers Movies 4 Mommies, although fathers are welcome, too. The theatres tend to offer movies for parents during the day, when most movie-goers are at work or school. And, in the case of Cineplex and Famous Players, the showings take up just one of several theatres in a multiplex, freeing other screens for regular movies. It’s a crying shame that theatres have only recently latched on to the “movies for babies” concept, missing out on an opportunity to capture revenues from stay-at-home parents.

(c) 2005 by Andrea Coutu. Vancouver Marketing Consultant. All rights reserved.