Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League was apparently shocked by how much attention he got from a "Don't Text During the Movie" PSA that used a voicemail from an ejected patron to make its point. The video was quickly picked up by the national media after its release. CNN's Anderson Cooper joked that League deserves the Nobel Prize. The story was also posted to Yahoo! News and was mentioned by the ladies on The View.
Someone even started selling "Magnited We Stand" t-shirts online, a reference to a mispronunciation of "United States of America" during the voice mail. Proceeds from the shirts will go to an "Austin-based education charity."
League says he's pleased the video sparked national discussion about appropriate behavior in movie theaters, but he thinks some people crossed the line by attacking the person who left the voicemail.
"There's been a tiny little fraction of people online, 0.5 percent, who have taken the [YouTube comments] forum to make really mean spirited and vindictive comments towards the individual," League says in the video. "For us, it's really not about the person who left us the voicemail message."
League says, given the option, he would also ban the people who are making the cruel comments from attending the Alamo Drafthouse.
