Popcorn, Coke—and a Prius?

The Al Gore global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth concludes with a call to action, listing several steps individuals can make in their daily lives to cut down on the production of greenhouse gases. The Regal Green Hills 16, where the movie has been showing for several weeks, has announced plans to let people put one of those suggestions—buying a hybrid car—into action before even leaving the lobby. “We’re teaming up with Beaman Toyota to sell Toyota Priuses from our concession stands,” says Dick Westerling, senior vice president for marketing at Regal. “What we have heard is that after seeing An Inconvenient Truth, the viewer is ready to buy, and we have a Beaman salesperson meeting people as they leave the theater. We can do a trade right then, and the customer can drive the new Prius home.” The theater and the car dealer share the profit from the sale, Westerling says. Angie Pilkington, one of the first customers to buy a car at the theater, says she was definitely primed to make a purchase. “The last thing I wanted to do after seeing that movie was drive home in my 12-miles-a-gallon Ford Expedition,” she says. “It was great to be able to trade it in on a hybrid right there in the theater. They even threw in a copy of the soundtrack album and a recording of some of Al Gore’s speeches. I’ve been listening to them on the CD player while I drive around.” Apparently, Nashville is the first place to sell hybrid cars to An Inconvenient Truth audiences, although several cities, including Nashville, have had local utilities in the lobby to sign customers up for earth-friendly green power—also recommended by the movie. “This movie is like a two-hour commercial for green power,” says NES’ Teresa Corlew. “There seems to be something about a desire to save the planet that motivates people to spend an extra 4 bucks a month on electricity.”