Cinemark, the third-largest movie theater chain, has a marketing partnership with the AAA (aka the Auto Club). The AAA promotes that they have movie tickets discounted for Cinemark.

As an AAA member, you can purchase tickets for $8.49. Not sure you knew that. Sounds like a pretty good deal, right? Discount programs and sales promotion fall are part of “Price” and “Promotion,” under the 9P’s of Marketing.

Today, Cinemark said customers of “Movie Club” pay a monthly fee of $8.99 for movies. But wait there’s more. It’s only one movie a month. Really? The Movie Club members will receive a credit for only one movie ticket a month. To be fair, these subscribers can also buy additional tickets for $8.99 each. Seems to the 2 Guyz that the program doesn’t amount to much.

In a major city like Los Angeles or New York, average ticket prices are twice that much. But nationwide, ticket prices average less than $9, so again, where is the benefit.

Discounting and sales promotions are usually designed to be short term sales boosts to get people to try something or possibly switch brands. There is a downside, though, in that people can get “hooked” on it. J.C. Penny tried to eliminate their coupon discounts a few years ago, only to find sales drop dramatically.

So as movie fans, when we heard Cinemark announce their $8.99 movie promotion, “Movie Club,” we had to look more closely. And we also found it odd that it limits only one ticket a month. Cinemark sells tickets to Auto Club for $8.49. That’s a better “movie” deal.