Still Bitching About Popcorn

In things that surprise no one: I am a little bit opinionated. 

So it should come as no shock that after the popcorn drama at AMC, I proceeded to email AMC and ask why they'd gotten rid of the smalls -- that it was a strong factor in my deciding either to not buy concessions there, or (really, if they didn't have the classic nights, it wouldn't be an idle threat) to just go to another theatre.

Because seriously. No one needs a tub of popcorn that starts out at 600 calories and is large enough to feed two people. Unless you are buying it and sharing it with another person.

A senior manager responded, and apologized, and explained that they had streamlined their offerings, but did offer a Cameo size, and that I should request that the next time I am there. 

I thanked her, and said I wasn't aware, since no one had mentioned it to me, or to the others in front of me who had asked for a small. 

"It's our least popular option, because it is fairly small," she responded. 

And this is where I redirect my opinionated-ness, because the poor manager dealing with my email didn't deserve a diatribe. 

Of course it's your least popular option! 

I don't doubt that part of that is because it's small -- considering that when I ordered a small once, the concessions employee showed me the bag, and asked if it would be enough. But, when you don't tell people about the option, no one's going to order it. You would think that if a customer asks for a small, the odds are pretty good that they actually want a reasonable amount of popcorn -- so why, at that point, not say "Hey, we don't have that anymore, but we've got something close"? 

And hence, my Googling began. Because now I needed to know how many cups it was, what the calories were, etc. 

Surprise surprise. Nothing about it on AMC's site. Only on review sites, and even then, usually complaining about the size. Nothing about nutrition.

I finally found the ounce figure. It's about the same size as the previous small, but a little bigger -- not enough so, though, that I feel bad about it. And I certainly would prefer that over trying to estimate how much popcorn is 2/3 of a bag. 

So you've got a company maintaining that smalls aren't popular, while they don't actually market the availability of a small popcorn. I get that smaller sizes aren't profitable. I understand that line of thought. 

But this? This is exactly why we've got issues with over-eating in this country. Even if you try to make a more responsible choice, barriers are thrown up in your path. You're encouraged to eat more than you need, and finding the better options is next to impossible unless you bitch and whine about it.

Because it's really sad when a 600-calorie tub of popcorn is still one of the lowest-calorie options at a movie theatre. 

This is why the United States is fat.