Eating Popcorn at Movie Theater Blocks Marketing Messages

Movie popcorn might serve another purpose besides being a delicious treat while watching the latest flick. A new study found that movie-goers who munch on popcorn may actually become immune to marketing messages showed before the movie commences.

According to a study from the University of Cologne, the crunch and act of eating itself can block the process the brain uses to encode new information. Chewing popcorn actually makes you forget new brands that appear on the screen by disrupting something known as your 'inner speech'.

In order to conduct the experiment,  the researchers invited a group of 96 people to a cinema to watch a movie preceded by a series of adverts. Half of the participants were given free popcorn throughout the session, the other half only received a small sugar cube which immediately dissolved in their mouths.

"Each time we encounter a person's or product name, the lips and the tongue automatically simulate the pronunciation of that name. This happens covertly, that is, without our awareness and without actual mouth movements. During inner speech, the brain attempts to utter the novel name. When names are presented repeatedly, this articulation simulation is trained and thus runs more easily for repeated compared to novel names," according to the press release.

If this inner speech is disturbed, the study suggests, the repetition effect is neutralized. Disruption can come in the form of chewing gum, whispering another word or, you guessed it, eating popcorn.

"The mundane activity of eating popcorn made participants immune to the pervasive effects of advertising," said one of the study's author, Sascha Topolinski, according to The Guardian. "This finding suggests that selling candy in cinemas actually undermines advertising effects, which contradicts present marketing strategies."