<p><pre><code>  [$669.5 million is] an attention-grabbing 275 percent 
  increase from the second quarter of 2008.
</code></pre>
Anyone else get annoyed by this very useless factoid from the very first paragraph?<p>--<p>The movie industry has the very same problem. This summer's blockbuster movie is created. Unfortunately, screenings reveal that the movie is terrible and no one actually wants to see it. So what does the industry do? Spend millions on advertising, hoping for a very strong first weekend showing.<p>And, like the airlines in the story, they wonder why (Avatar aside) sales are falling flat.