Dive Brief:
- Home improvement retailer Lowe’s has signed on as a partner for Cinemark’s National Popcorn Day promotion, which lets moviegoers fill their own containers with popcorn for $5, per a press release.
- Now in its second year, Cinemark’s “Bring Your Own Bucket” promotion will also expand to two days, Jan. 18 and 19. Customers can bring their own containers and purchase up to 400 ounces of popcorn. Anyone with a branded Lowe’s bucket can fill the entire five-gallon container with popcorn.
- The promotion sees Lowe’s continuing to focus on marketing around its branded buckets. The retailer's first mascot, a blue bucket, made its debut in November 2025 at the grand opening of a new store in Royse City, Texas.
Dive Insight:
The home improvement market has faced headwinds from a depressed housing market, tariffs and consumers’ overall concerns about the economy. As a leading retailer in the space, Lowe’s has been working to reach new customers with a variety of promotions and marketing innovations, including via a bigger focus on social media, creators and its branded buckets. As a Cinemark partner for the popcorn promotion, the retailer has an opportunity to showcase its helpfulness, said Jen Wilson, the retailer’s chief marketing officer.
“Our iconic blue bucket brings utility and delight wherever it goes, including the theater,” Wilson said in the press release. “Teaming up with Cinemark is a fun, simple way to give families even more value from something they already rely on throughout the year.”
While customers do not have to purchase a film ticket to participate in the promo, the chain is clearly hoping they do. The theater chain is encouraging those who bring their own containers to share pictures on social media, while tagging the company. Those who follow the chain on Instagram can enter a sweepstakes to win a free large popcorn by commenting on the company’s National Popcorn Day post and tagging three friends. The chain is also offering additional rewards opportunities for members of its Cinemark Movie Rewards loyalty program.
It’s no secret that in-theater movie attendance has been declining for years. As a result, movie theaters have become more reliant on promotional events, such as live and limited screenings of films. The success of some of these offerings point to how consumers are looking for experiences that offer more than a typical movie night, what theaters are calling “event cinema,” per business publication Marketplace. Cinemark’s promo is in line with this trend.
Lowe’s most recent earnings report showed sales were up, reflecting the closing of a recent acquisition. However, comparable sales were flat in the face of ongoing economic uncertainty.
