Next month, Canadian movie-goers will have something else to complain about when it comes to in-theatre advertising.

In April, Toronto’s Cineplex Odeon is launching CinePromotion kiosks at 100 of its major locations across Canada.

The kiosks, which are custom-designed for each advertiser, feature posters, pamphlets, contest entry forms and built-in ballot boxes and are situated in high-traffic lobbies.

Hershey Canada will be the first advertiser to use the kiosk, starting April 4, for its Glosettes confectionery. Kiosk visitors can win a number of prizes, including a trip for two to Hollywood. General Mills will be using the kiosks in May.

Cineplex ran a test market of the kiosks, with Optimedia clients L’Oreal and Toronto-Dominion Bank, in five Toronto-area theatres last fall and found it successful.

Marci Davies, vice-president of marketing and communications for Cineplex, says that patrons were happy with it because of the contest element. ‘When there’s a chance to win something, there’s value added,’ she says.

To many a movie-goer’s chagrin, Cineplex already offers advertisers on-screen advertising (CineSpots), along with CineVision lobby monitors which, for the past three years, have showcased movie trivia and commercials in about 75 lobbies across the country.

Cineplex Odeon estimates that advertisers using the kiosks will reach more than 2.5 million people during a four-week posting.

If the kiosks are successful, Cineplex will put them into some of its u.s. properties. ‘We want to test the waters here,’ says Davies, adding that the CineVision is in about 10 u.s. complexes now.

The company, which uses Panasonic hardware on this side of the border, is currently seeking a hardware sponsor to place the monitors in more of its u.s. lobbies.