Disney’s upcoming entry in its Indiana Jones series was off to a rocky start earning scoffs over its trailers and film clips and now the film has taken another bad turn by annoying commuters on the New York subways with off-putting audio ads for the film.
Disney has contracted with the MTA to broadcast an audio ad for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at subway stations all across the Big Apple, and according to the Gothamist, riders are not pleased.
Commutrs seem very unhappy that every ten minutes they are accosted with a gravelly voice loudly announcing, “In 10 days, a legend will face his destiny” over the station’s public address speakers.
The magazine notes that this is not the first time the public transport authority has sold audio ads played over the speaker system. Officials also hastened to add that serious public service messages will always take precedence over the audio ads.
Certainly, ads on the MTA are fine. The system earns more than $150 million a year by allowing companies to advertise with posters on walls, according to the New York Daily News.
But as Gothamist pointed out, some transit riders are not amused by the intrusive audio ads.
“I don’t enjoy being advertised to or solicited to when I’m in a forced situation. It’s enough to just view posters, billboards, and digital readerboards,” rider Layard Thompson told the magazine.
“I just heard a short ad for the new Indiana Jones movie played over the loudspeakers at my subway stop. I realize the MTA is struggling financially, but audio commercials inserted into my commute is not a positive development — with rate increases on their way too,” said Twitter user Howard Sherman.
I just heard a short ad for the new Indiana Jones movie played over the loudspeakers at my subway stop. I realize the MTA is struggling financially, but audio commercials inserted into my commute is not a positive development — with rate increases on their way too.
— Howard Sherman (@HESherman) June 20, 2023
Others are also annoyed by the whole thing:
The MTA is now running ads over the PA system, which *shockingly* are way clearer and louder than actual subway announcements.
You won’t know when your train is getting there, but you WILL know that Indiana Jones is coming out on June 30th!!!https://t.co/76h3pNMxkF
— Max RN (@MaxRivlinNadler) June 20, 2023
“When riders hear a voice over the station loudspeaker, they expect to hear useful and relevant updates that will help them get from point A to point B smoothly. For most of us, that doesn’t include learning about Indiana Jones’s next adventure” https://t.co/2tGonbsG1R
— Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (@PCACriders) June 20, 2023
Print ads are one thing; we have a choice. Audio is forced upon us, like so much of our lives in NYC: trucks in reverse, buses idling, cars with popping mufflers. It’s invasive and infringes on our quality of life. So yeah, no.
— AmC (blue check)✨ (@bklyncullie) June 22, 2023
Granted, the movie is not yet out, but so far this upcoming fifth entry in the Indiana Jones saga has the worst rating of any Indy film with a dismal 65 percent “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes. Professional reviewers who have seen it are also not super excited about the film.
For many regular moviegoers, that rating is likely based off the clips and trailers Disney has released so far, none of which have exactly wowed potential audiences.
As our own John Nolte noted, Harrison Ford’s co-star, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, is not coming off well. “Waller-bridge plays Indy’s goddaughter and spends much of the movie emasculating him. Naturally, she’s a badass girlboss who lectures and saves him,” Nolte wrote.
It is all adding up to what just might become another major box office disappointment for Disney, a studio that has reportedly already lost $890 million over its last eight box office bombs.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny debuts in theaters on June 30.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, or Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston