According to a Movie Theater Employee on TikTok, Popcorn Sizes Are a Scam
Small and medium sizes are the same, apparently.
Between the cost of tickets and the price of food, going to the movies is enough to clean a person out financially. To make matters worse, it seems cinephiles everywhere have been getting scammed at the concession stand. At least according to a new TikTok video.
A movie theater concession stand employee, known as @ThatCoolGuy2559 on TikTok, has been sharing tips, tricks, and little-known facts about movie theaters on the app.
Recently, he revealed a massive secret about movie theater popcorn sizes: The junior size and medium size are pretty much exactly the same, the medium just costs more.
In the clip, @ThatCoolGuy2559 plays out an exchange between a customer and a concession stand worker. The "customer" orders a junior-sized popcorn and then changes his mind, ordering a medium instead. The initial total is $7.35. When the pretend customer changes his mind, the employee pours the small popcorn into a medium bucket, filling it almost completely. The total then rises to $8.44.
"Can I just get the junior? Ya'll trying to scam me," the customer jokes in the video.
The video is captioned, "If you're at the movies just get a small or large no in between." It has been viewed more than 8.4 million times at the time of writing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the comment section is full of shocked movie-goers.
"Just bc it's a hardcover damn," a TikToker in the comments wrote.
"Feel like this should be illegal. If I'm paying for a bigger size I should be paying for a bigger size," another commenter added.
"Same thing with McDonald's cups. That's why they're all 1$ they're the same volume but the medium and large are more narrow," a third TikTok user wrote.
However, not everyone was convinced, prompting the concession worker to make a second video to prove his point. Sure, the medium bucket isn't overflowing with popcorn, but the difference truly is minimal.
On average, a small popcorn at the movie theater costs between $6.09 and $7.09, according to Movie Theater Prices. A medium costs anywhere from $7.10 to $8.09 and a large ranges from $8.10 to $9.09. There's no major difference in price, but if you're spending that much on a snack that's going to be gone before the previews, you should get your money's worth.
Let that be a lesson to you. When it comes to movie theater snacks, go big or go home.