In a recent Slate article (click here), Steve Landsburg puzzles as to why some hotels bundle internet access for free but movie theatres never bundle popcorn for free. He writes: “… in the real world, popcorn, unlike wireless Internet, is never free.” Landsburg goes on:

It’s logically possible that by pure coincidence the
numbers at every movie theater in the world all work out the same way,
while the numbers at hotels work out one way half the time and the
other way the other half. But “pure coincidence” theory is even less
satisfying than the “differential greed” theory. There must be
something I’m missing that makes popcorn essentially different from
Internet access. I remain stumped.Well, here in Australia we can
help him out as the ‘real world’ is different: popcorn is sometimes free.
If you go to those ‘first class’ options such as Director’s Lounge or Gold
Class, the popcorn is free. Of course, your ticket price is higher.

Put here is a more straightforward possibility. Here is a link to an offer I received yesterday from Hoyts. If you pay for your tickets with Visa, the popcorn is free.

So the economic theory that predicts that we should sometimes see free popcorn is correct. It is just Professor Landsburg’s casual observation of the real world that caused a conundrum.