Man Sues Theater Over Movie Snack Prices

I don't go out to see a lot of movies. Why? Two words: high prices. It's one thing to pay higher and higher ticket costs. But when the cost of theater snacks goes throughh the roof [as it has], it's just too much to deal with. In Michigan, though, one man is taking on  concession inflation.

"A staffer at the National Association of Theatre Owners in Washington, D.C., angrily hung up the phone when asked about industry snack pricing practices."

                                                                                     -The Detroit Free Press, reporting on the lawsuit

Joshua Thompson has filed a class-action suit against his local movie house, acccusing it of charging artifically high prices for snack foods available for lower rates elsewhere. For instance, he reported buying a Coke and a box of Goobers in December. Cost? $8, almost 3 times the price at nearby stores!

Published reports note that Thompson, as many of us probably have, would bring snacks and drinks with him to the theater, until it posted a sign forbidding the practice. The Free Press notes that the lawsuit will probably be thrown out, since movie theaters, already regulated, are thus exempt from Michigan's Consumerr Protection Act.

While you can probably simpathise with Thompson's protest, some experts note that high concession prices are actually helpful. A 2009 study from Stanford University suggests that the inflated snack costs help keep ticket prices from going into the stratsophere.

Is Joshua Thompson onto something here, or are high costs at the snack bar just part of the movie experience? Let us know your thoughts, here or on our Facebook page.

[Detroit Free Press/msnbc.com]