Popcorn is a must-have at the movie theater. Of course, it can be quite expensive, with the average cost of a regular-size popcorn being $8.14. That’s probably why this woman’s “unethical” life hack to getting free movie theater popcorn struck a chord with viewers—3 million viewers, to be exact.
Free popcorn hack demonstrated
“I’m legally not allowed to disclose what happened here but use your common sense,” TikToker Eve Cohen (@eve.d.cohen) writes in the text overlay of her video.
She and her friend stroll through the movie theater. They each have a large, empty popcorn bucket. With a smirk, Cohen places her index finger in front of her lips, giving a “shh” gesture. Then, the video cuts to them holding full buckets of popcorn.
Carefully wording it, Cohen reveals her secret in the caption. She wrote, “I’m not saying we brought used empty popcorn containers to the movie and asked for a refill….but i’m not saying we didn’t do that either.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Cohen via Instagram direct message and TikTok comment.
@eve.d.cohen i’m not saying we brought used empty popcorn containers to the movie and asked for a refill….but i’m not saying we didn’t do that either🤷🏼♀️ #hack #secret #movietheater #amc #amcstubs #popcorn ♬ pretty ppl use this sound – ꪖ
What do viewers think?
Viewers shared their own unethical—and downright dirty—ways to avoid paying steep concession prices.
“One time me and my friends grabbed empty popcorn buckets from the trash and got those refilled,” one viewer shared.
Another recalled, “Earlier I pulled one and a cup out of the bin and asked for the refill in a new bucket.”
Movie theater workers also debated whether or not they should care about customers employing this tactic.
“As a movie theater worker i legit would not care if this happened,” one said. “[just] don’t tell me you’re doing it bc then i have to pretend to care.”
“Coming from a manager at a movie theater, we do not care. Just try not to make the smuggling stuff obvious so we don’t have to say anything pls,” another echoed.
Is this wrong?
However, another condemned this hack, writing, “This is stealing. And, if everyone did this, movie theaters would go out of business. something like 90% of ticket revenue goes to the movie Studios. Concessions are how theatres make any money at all.”
According to Yahoo, 80% of movie theater revenue does from concessions, including popcorn, soda, and snacks. Twenty percent comes from ticket sales.
So if you feel wrong trying out Cohen’s hack for yourself, most movie theaters will refill your popcorn for free after you have bought the initial one.
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