Hate pre-show commercials? Eat popcorn and forget!

Commercials generally don't offer viewers much to chew on. Next time you're confronted with 10 minutes of pre-show advertisements, try munching on popcorn as a means of counteracting the effects of subliminal seduction.

According to The Guardian, a group of researchers from Cologne University -- where they must have an abundance of free time on their hands -- has concluded that chewing makes viewers immune to film advertising.

The research team welcomed 96 guests to a movie theatre that featured on-screen advertisements. Half the participants were issued a bag of corn to chomp while the rest of the group were handed a fast-dissolving sugar cube.

Isn't this how Project MKUltra started?

After the show, Reddenbacher noshers could not recall what played before the picture while sugar babies "showed positive psychological responses to the products they had encountered in the ads."

The technical explanation: "The reason why adverts manage to imprint brand names on our brains is that our lips and the tongue automatically simulate the pronunciation of a new name when we first hear it. Every time we re-encounter the name, our mouth subconsciously practices its pronunciation.

"However, according to the study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, this "inner speech" can be disturbed by chewing, rendering the repetition effect redundant."

Is this a good thing for theatres? Proceeds for the pre-show entertainment go directly to the exhibitor. Once advertisers catch wind of this will they pull the plug or acquiesce to a cinema staple that in effect neutralizes their adverts?

Remember: if you outlaw popcorn only outlaws will pop corn!