AT&T and DirectTV encourage people to watch football at the theater?! — Page 2

AT&T's passive-aggressive "you weren't supposed to interpret it like that" is definitely not an apology. Written like the egotistical football frat boy and shifting blame onto the reader/viewer. It should have been "In retrospect, our joke was poorly expressed, and we're sorry for that."

I hope they got enough cancellations to make a blip, at least.

Is that pro-bootleg?

So the meme begins!

This is the Pattiest thing Patti ever Pattid.

I feel bad for Patti, because I feel she is letting all this get to her personally and in such a deep way, that she is becoming bitter and coming dangerously close to irrevocably so. Yes, we're all outraged by the way some people behave at the theatre, but I think everyone needs to take a chill pill. This is part of growing up-- and I mean that in more than one way. We have to be tolerant and understand that some people don't have the etiquette knowledge; we can do our part to educate them, but it shouldn't turn into that which makes us bitter. And in another way, technology is just outpacing tradition. Soon it will be something else that is distracting at the theatre, and that's part of growing up as a whole, our evolving technology and how it collides with the world as we know it. There isn't a ringtone loud enough or a screen bright enough to jusify taking our joy away, so I wish we could all calmly understand that we have some work to do and get to doing it, without it turning us into the "cranky old" of our time.

Updated On: 9/17/15 at 08:58 PM

When an ad like that can get approved from a major corporation it shows there is a big problem, and that many many many people don't know it's a problem. That should give us some context. We're lashing at out those people who end up inside the theatre who come by their mistake honestly. And most people do have the good sense not to use their phones, but this ad should tell us that we should reach further, or in a different way. and yes, I agree Patti's sassy crabby cranky attitude is totally her-- but it shouldn't delight us at the expense of her well-being. I think she's really letting this get to her. Like it used to be funny. Now I think she cries in her dressing room.

Updated On: 9/17/15 at 09:42 PM

PatrickDennis92 said: "This is part of growing up-- and I mean that in more than one way."

How much more is she supposed to grow up? She's already 66, well on her way to actual cranky old-ladydom.

Tasers, I tell you. Arm ushers with tasers.

PatrickDennis92 said: "When an ad like that can get approved from a major corporation it shows there is a big problem, and that many many many people don't know it's a problem. That should give us some context. We're lashing at out those people who end up inside the theatre who come by their mistake honestly. And most people do have the good sense not to use their phones, but this ad should tell us that we should reach further, or in a different way. and yes, I agree Patti's sassy crabby cranky attitude is totally her-- but it shouldn't delight us at the expense of her well-being. I think she's really letting this get to her. Like it used to be funny. Now I think she cries in her dressing room.

Theaters have signs up, notices in the Playbill, ushers reminding people, and announcements before the show begins. What would constitute going further? What other way should the theater community reach out? You've said this twice now, but haven't elaborated on what exactly you're looking for.

And I really think you're misjudging LuPone's psyche on this. She's enjoying every bit of attention she's getting out of this, and while I think she genuinely cares about it, I don't think she's crying herself to sleep over it.

"

Personally I am on AT&T's service, But i've never had problems with them. This ad was distasteful, but at the same time it shouldn't reflect the company as a whole.

PatrickDennis92 said: "and yes, I agree Patti's sassy crabby cranky attitude is totally her-- but it shouldn't delight us at the expense of her well-being. I think she's really letting this get to her. Like it used to be funny. Now I think she cries in her dressing room."

Since Patti isn't on Twitter OR in the country at the moment, I assumed someone reached out to her with a request for her opinion. Of course, she could've ignored it or said "Leave me alone, I'm in Ireland," but we know she has strong opinions and is going to take an invitation to express them. Besides, Patti's been ranting about the decline of our public manners since she used to write the Ramblings from the Road on her website.

I was thinking that your comment is not dissimilar to comments I've read about how much Patti complains about Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sunset Boulevard. I'm sure there have been times when she's brought it up, but I've also read and seen so many interviews with her with questions or prompts like "So let's talk about your experience with Sunset Boulevard" or "Would you say Sunset Boulevard was the worst experience of your professional life?" If you invite someone with strong opinions like Patti to discuss their opinions, they are absolutely going to take you up on that. People give her platforms because they know she is going to accept.

Updated On: 9/18/15 at 07:21 AM

They may have pulled the online ad, but I am still seeing the AT&T TV commercial (which sounds like it's narrated by Steve Carell) where they show someone watching football at the "ballet you didn't want to go to."

This Is absolutly ridiculous at@t should find some other way to promote there deal with direct like putting ads in playbills or sponsoring show not telling people watch tv during the theater that is what the theater is for not to watch tv but to enjoy a live event