Thai cinema offers unlimited popcorn deal
Thai movie goers were jealous when they saw their neighbours in Vietnam enjoy their free popcorn refills on social media. A Thai cinema seized that opportunity and offered an unlimited order of popcorn with a catch – that they would only offer one serving of any portion.
Here’s how Thai guests got creative and what kind of giant containers were brought to claim their massive servings of popcorn.
An unlimited popcorn refill with a catch
After we saw our Vietnamese neighbours show off their huge popcorn orders on social media in October, Thai netizens echoed sentiments of jealousy online. Local chain SF Cinema quickly seized the chance to offer a similar deal in Thailand with a catch.
Thai movie goers can order a serving of popcorn at any portion size, so long as the container they bring is hygienic. With only one cinema in Thailand participating, Bangkok residents quickly queued up at SF World Cinema in Central World to get their heaping servings of unlimited popcorn for only ฿199 (~US$6).
Thais were prepared for the challenge
To be fair, even before SF Cinema made it a reality, Thai netizens had already discussed how they’d tackle this challenge if it ever made its way here. When it did, they were more than happy to show up and claim all the popcorn they’d need for the rest of this year – and next year too.
From the looks of it, one person even brought a tub big enough for a bath or to mix cement in. Some even bought luggage – a wise choice indeed. We all know how much one can fit into a suitcase if we really put our minds to it.
Some people were reasonable and only brought a container enough for a couple of days’ worth of popcorn. But no one has time to be reasonable in the face of an unreasonable challenge like this. So here’s a picture of someone who claimed 5.2 kg’s worth of popcorn.
Here’s one who took enough to feed a whole neighbourhood for a couple of days.
It got so ridiculous that SF had to announce that they weren’t taking anymore customers past 5PM even if the mall closed at 10PM – all because there were just too many customers. But come the next day, people rapidly queued up for their share again.
When SF couldn’t make enough popcorn to serve all the customers who queued up, they even let their guests leave the containers there overnight to be delivered. The cinema chain promised to fill them all with popcorn the following day. This garnered tons of praise online with many appreciative netizens complimenting the customer service.
In short, the amount of interest and popcorn consumed in this viral marketing stunt is living proof that us Thais will take advantage of any great bargain we see.
Thais making the best out of great bargains
Despite all the unreasonably large containers that are certainly not meant for storing kilograms worth of popcorn, this challenge was a perfect showcase of how Thais will MacGyver their way into a great deal.
Bargains like this will get Thai brains working on overdrive. Doubly so if it’s about food. What are other viral PR stunts you’ve heard of in Thailand? We’d love to hear about them in the Facebook comments.
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Cover images adapted from (clockwise from top left): SF Cinema, Sanook