Opening weekend for The Simpsons Movie

Two movie theatres in Helsinki have had this lifesized advertisement for the new Simpsons movie on display for over a month. Both times we saw the movie this weekend, lines of people waited to take their picture sitting next to Homer. In one case we saw, a young woman kissed Homer on the cheek while her boyfriend took the picture. (Notice how worn the cardboard is where people had been sitting, especially where their shoes have been rubbing against the couch.)

In contrast, consider what we observed in the United States earlier this month. We went to three movie theatres: in Norman, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee. In every city, the piece was either placed on a balcony, had security ropes around it, or otherwise was inaccessible to sit on. To be fair, in the Norman theatre, someone had stolen Homer's remote control, so perhaps there were good reasons.