[WalterBright]

It was an eye-opener for me when I was a teen and bought a gallon of soft drink syrup from a McDonald's for use at a party. It worked out to about 5 cents a cup for the drink in a soft drink, which sold for 75 cents (if I remember correctly). McDonald's doesn't make money selling burgers, they make money selling the soft drinks and the fries.

The same goes for any restaurant, it's why they ply you for drinks.

[ghaff]

Look at movie theaters. They make all their money to a first approximation from popcorn and soda. The movie is just the loss leader that gets people in the door.

It's also where the now much-mocked "super sizing" comes from. They can up the revenue per meal while upping the cost by almost nothing.

[malza]

> Look at movie theaters.

I don't think it was like that in the beginning. Running a cinema (movie theater) was a normal business until Hollywood milked it to the extreme. They created their own chains of multiplexes in many countries to push their idea of how the business should work.

These days modern cinemas are built like tourist traps with customers having to either walk through/past chain restaurants or having to find some weird side door to enter directly. It's quite a difference to even the 80s or 90s when cinemas had impressive/glamorous lobbies.

[rexf]

> customers having to either walk through/past chain restaurants or having to find some weird side door to enter directly

Having lived in NYC & LA, I've not had to walk through some weird side door to enter movie theaters. Theaters are straightforward: a lobby for tickets, a station where a person checks your ticket, the concession stand (overpriced food & drinks), and the theater doors.

Oftentimes theaters are located in crowded shopping areas with dining options, but you don't get lost since the theater physically takes up so much space and has signage everywhere directing you to the prominent entrance.

[djrogers]

I've not once been to a movie theater like you describe. All of the ones around here are like you indicate disappeared in the 90s. Where are you located?

[malza]

UK. Modern cinemas are built with multiple restaurants often with an entrance inside the restaurant itself.

In extreme cases you have to walk from the entrance to the back of the complex (passing by maybe a dozen bars and restaurants), get to the end, hop on an escalator to the next floor and walk all the way back past more outlets. It's only then you reach the cinema.

[edanm]

Over here (Israel), cinemas are usually inside shopping malls. Sometimes the theaters are separate but have a "shopping center"around them.

Personally, I find it very convenient - you can eat before/after the movie, and sometimes do a bit of light shopping. I like having more options. I certainly wouldn't consider it a bad thing, and I feel perfectly free to not shop if I don't need to.

[cat199]

I'd agree if you are talking about the 'movie industry' -

While yes, what you describe is true - part of this has to do with the film rights pricing which is mandated by the studios/distributors, so even if a theater wanted to structure things differently, they could not..

Of course many of the major theatre chains are also related to the studios, so it gets a bit hard to see which end is up..

but I digress

[DerekL]

>Of course many of the major theatre chains are also related to the studios, so it gets a bit hard to see which end is up.

As far as I can tell, not in the US. Open Road Films is a joint venture of AMC and Regal, but Open Road only has about 1% of the film market. National Amusements has a controlling interest in Viacom, which owns Paramount Pictures, but National Amusements only has about 1% of North American movie theaters. None of the big US studios own any of the big 3 US theater chains.

[huac]

The studios have an incentive to not overcharge as well - if the theaters go bankrupt then distribution just got a whole lot harder.

But yes, the accounting in the entire movie industry needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, and perhaps some mind-altering chemicals.

[yodon]

> many of the major theater chains are also related to the studios

No, at least not in the US. In one of the key anti-trust decisions, the Supreme Court declared in 1948 that it was prohibited monopolistic behavior for a major studio to own a theater chain.[0]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Paramount_P....

[xapata]

That business model is heavily influenced by negotiations with the soda company.

[seanalltogether]

I've always assumed the costs surrounding a cup of soda (machine, CO2, ice, cups, lids, straws) are actually much higher then the cost of the syrup itself.

[cc439]

The up front cost of icemaker/dispeners?carbonator is high but the cost of electricity, water, and CO2 tanks is basically nothing on a per drink basis. Just think about everything that went into the factory which makes that syrup, the factory that makes the syrup bag, and all the logistics that deliver the finished product to the store. Then remember that costs pennies per drink. Even if all the other costs associated with that soda cost as much on a per drink basis, we're still talking ~10-20 cents per drink. Assuming every input cost is on the same scale also makes for a huge overestimate.

[mod]

When I was a teenager I heard 17c for the cup, < 1c for the soda.

Of course they go for like $1.50 so no matter how it breaks down, it's a nice ROI.

[jon-wood]

I've heard stories of fast food places which say you can drink as much from the soda machines as you like, just don't put it in a cardboard cup.