15 Outrageous Popcorn Buckets People Used For Cinemark’s 'Bring Your Own Bucket' Day

Movie theaters are sparing no expense to attract ticket buyers. While themed popcorn buckets have undoubtedly injected a dose of fun into the movie-going experience, Cinemark’s latest marketing tactic might be the smartest yet. On January 19, the theater chain held its first Bring Your Own Bucket (BYOB) campaign to celebrate National Popcorn Day. For just $5, people could bring a popcorn bucket from home and fill it up. The fun part is that any container could be used as a bucket, so long as it fit through the entrance and did not obstruct the view of the movie screen.

According to IndieWire, the campaign is one of four planned promotions by the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) to increase ticket sales. The other three include “Sneak Peek Saturday” on April 19, which will preview footage and trailers from highly anticipated movies, “Date Night” on August 15, and “Family Day” on November 9. If the reaction to Cinemark’s BYOB day is any metric, NATO is onto something. People showed up with ridiculous containers of all shapes, sizes, and styles. Of course, we had to share some of our favorites.

Display mode

Stock Pot

This guy was one of several people who pulled up to Cinemark with heavy-duty stock pots. Along with offering copious space for kernels, this steely bucket is the perfect material for extra buttery drizzle, as evidenced by the smile on his face.

Storage Containers

If “I am a growing boy” were a picture, this would be it. This cheery kid filled up not one, but three supersized storage containers.

Home Depot Bucket

Anyone who’s perused the stocked aisles of Home Depot is familiar with its massive branded buckets. I’m sure the home improvement retailer was imagining plaster more than popcorn when it created them, but as this moviegoer demonstrates, it’s as good a popcorn bucket as any.

Dual Lowe's Buckets

Since we’re on the subject of home improvement retailers, this enthused woman upped the ante with two massive buckets from Lowe’s.

Witch's Cauldron

Cauldrons are usually for concocting potions or storing Halloween candy, but this guy has clearly fallen under the spell of Cinemark’s Bring Your Own Bucket day.

Lego Heads

Each passing day proves there are no limits to what you can do with Legos. Though these Lego heads were originally made to store pieces, Lego might want to consider making them official popcorn buckets.

Urn

One thing’s for sure; if you give people carte blanche, they’ll certainly take advantage of it. This gothic popcorn gobbler brought a cremation urn for their bucket.

Nightstand

Probably the wildest popcorn “bucket” of the bunch. Some braggy guy named Hanick walked into his local Cinemark with an actual nightstand with drawers. Just imagine the reaction of the staff from him rolling in with it on a dolly.

Clear Backpack

While everyone brought handheld buckets, this guy took a more strategic approach. This clear backpack has straps, which frees up the hands to carry even more movie munchies.

Wheelbarrow

When it comes to going big or going home, this young popcorn lover nailed it.

Crockpot

Popcorn is the best when it’s fresh out of the popper. This guy peeped game and decided to bring his crock pot. Here’s to hoping Cinemark hooked him up with an outlet.

Denim Jeans

This is the quirkiest bucket winner, hands down. One of the highlights of Cinemark’s BYOB campaign is that it allowed people to show off their humor and this popcorn bucket made of denim jeans definitely wins.

Duffle Bag

These duffle bag boys are locked and loaded for a great time. Based on the “Birdman hand rub” gesture that his friend is doing, they can’t wait to dig in.

Photo: cinemark/X, formally known as Twitter

Popcorn Machine

Definitely meta—it’s like breaking the fourth wall of snacking. Using a popcorn machine as the bucket takes “outside food” to a whole new, self-aware level of hilarity. That’s not just popcorn; that’s performance art.