Cinema 3 Pukekohe: Cinema staff call the police on mums who brought food into the theatre for their children
A heated confrontation between cinema staff and two women who had brought food for their children into the screening led to the police being called.
A video posted on TikTok captured the altercation in Cinema 3 in the New Zealand town of Pukekohe near Auckland on Tuesday.
In the video, children can be heard crying as their mothers are told to leave for breaking cinema rules by bringing in food from outside
'Let's call the police,' a staff member can be heard saying in the darkened theatre as the movie plays in the background.
A child can be heard crying out, saying: 'I want my mum.'
This leads one of the mums to admonish the theatre workers, and refuse to leave.
'You've got no right to tell a five-year-old and make a five-year-old cry,' a woman's voice said.
'You are not going to kick us out, we are not dogs,' a woman said as she continued trying to soothe the wailing children.
Cinema staff called police after moviegoers were busted bringing in their own snacks for their kids
The clip, which was was posted on an account which has since been made private, was accompanied by an explanatory video.
'Yes we bought snacks for the kids to eat,' the caption read.
'When asked to put them away we agreed. But we're not gonna stop kids from eating.'
A second video of the incident, which was taken down on Wednesday, showed cinema operations manager Robert Greig.
'We can't really operate as a business if we start letting people bring in all their own food and drinks,' he's heard saying.
A voice off-camera asks whether he will give a refund 'while we're dealing with police'.
A police officer is also seen in the background.
Social media users were divided on the incident, with some saying the cinema's rules should be obeyed while others said they also snuck food into screenings (stock image)
Mr Greig told the New Zealand Herald that was off-site on Tuesday when staff called him about a 'developing incident' where customers had brought in 'a lot' of outside food.
'Beverages, snacks, hot food, you name it,' he said.
He said staff asked the group to put away the food or vacate the cinema and receive a refund but the situation 'escalated'.
While Mr Greig said he couldn't exactly recount all the conversation between his staff and group, having only second-hand reports, his employees were 'made to feel unsafe'.
'Some comments were made to them that made them very upset,' he said.
After Mr Greig intervened, the group agreed to leave the theatre and resolve things in the lobby.
'By that stage, the police had actually already been called. And they turned up shortly after that,' Mr Greig said.
'It's the first time we've had to call the police.'
A police spokesperson told the New Zealand Herald were contacted at about 4.45pm on Tuesday about two women refusing to leave the premises.
'Our staff attended and verbally trespassed the pair, who left without further incident,' the spokesperson said.
The incident unfolded at Cinema 3 in the New Zealand town of Pukekohe near Auckland
It's standard policy for New Zealand cinemas to ban outside food being consumed during screenings.
Cinema 3 has five signs posted around the premises stating 'no outside food or drinks allowed'.
He defended the policy as critical to keeping the cinema financially viable.
'If we don't have these policies and enforce them, we might as well not operate as a business because there's just no way we would survive on ticket sales,' he said.
'We're getting to the point now where we certainly can't increase our prices.'
Opinions about the incident were divided on the Franklin Grapevine community Facebook page.
Some called it a 'waste of police resources' and said movie snacks were overpriced.
However, others argued it was important to follow the rules.
Some admitted to sneaking food into cinemas, with one boasting to have taken in 'a whole cake'.
