Showmen's Trade Review (Apr-Jun 1939)

^^ay 27. 1039 SHOWMEN'S T 1< A I) Iv I". V 1 W Page 17 IS MOVIE CASHCOUPONS HERE j.ifij!i.iiuMj33^ a" 111 the upper left-hand eonier is the signature card, z^-hieh the exhibitor fills nut at the time his Movie Cash contract is signed. At top, right, is the redemption sheet on -a'hich he records the number of coupons taken in during the zccek, together zvith the amount due him. He then fills out one of the checks provided him (bottom) and deposits it to the theatre's account. This is further explained below. presents it to the cashier along with the coupons and presto! Joe is on his way in to spend another enjoyable evening. In this way, Joe doesn't have to wait until he has accumulated the necessary coupons; he uses what he has, plus the difference in cash. That the average person is enabled to attend the movies more often through this plan goes without question. Perhaps in your communitj', for example, you've learned that many of your patrons set aside just so much for movies. They may be able to attend once a week, perhaps twice. If other matters come up to take the money that they had intended to use for amusements, or if the}' see more shows during a given week than they had intended, they must forego the movies for the time being. On the other hand, these same persons must purchase the necessities of life, whether it be bread, milk, lard, sugar, drugs, or what have you? If there is a store in the community, or two or three stores, for that matter, that give away Movie Cash coupons with purchases, these people can provide thernselves with those necessities while making it possible for themselves to enjoy the finest in entertainment at the theatres where the coupons are redeemed. Benefits For the Theatre You've probably been wondering where the theatre comes in. We'll admit we sort of used a round about way to reach you, but we felt that was necessary because of the important part the merchant plays in the plan. So now we'll get down to business about the theatre. Better still, we'll talk mostly about you, because after all, you're the exhibitor and represent j'our house. According to our information, there is nothing about the plan that costs you anything. You receive the trailer, marquee valance, heralds and lobby display material from the distributor. Your only obligation is to redeem at face value all Movie Cash presented at your boxoffice at any performance on any daj'. Each week, all the coupons you have taken in are redeemed through a plan whereby your theatre is paid 75 per cent of the face value. This takes place every Saturday. That there is no element of risk involved in the redemption plan is proved by the fact that the plan has been worked out in conjunction with a reputable bank in New York and through a Declaration of Trust Agreement whereby the funds from the sale of coupons are segregated and the redemption monies set up under a Declaration of Trust Ml that Ihcy are always kept inviolate and can be used for no purpose other than llu: redemption of coupons. The theatre's benefit must not be comluited on a basis of 75 per cent of the coupons redeemed because, if the admission is a quarter and the patron uses ten cents in coupons plus fifteen cents in cash, then that particular admission ticket has cost the theatre only two and one-half cents, or 10 per cent of the total admission price. On the other hand, no one will argue the point that a potential patron with an insufficient number of coupons in his pocket is very apt to go to the sliow anyway, siii'-e he only requires a little extra cash to admit him. At this point we'd like to go into detail about the redemption plan. At the time you sign the contract for Movie Cash, you sign a signature card which is kept by the distributors for identification purposes. The representative gives you a book of 52 checks, one for every Saturday of the year, and a pad of 104 redemption sheets (52 originals and 52 duplicates) on which you make your report of coupons for the week. On Saturday, you count up your coupons and separate them according to their denominations. Then you fill out the redemption sheets, being sure to indicate the number of coupons of each denomination received. Then you list the cash values and total them, subtracting 25 per cent for the net value. Having figured the net value, you make out a check to your theatre for that amount, and deposit the check to your theatre's account. Yon mail the original redemption sheet along with the coupons to the distributors, retaining the duplicate copy for your files. Incidentally, the signature on check and redemption sheet must correspond with that on the signature card. In conceiving and operating the plan, those who control the rights overlooked not a single detail to make it foolproof. All coupons contracted for by the merchants are paid for in cash. Immediately upon payment, 75 per cent goes to the Redemption Fund under the strict supervision of both the Trustees and Certified Public Accountants. Only from the remaining 25 per cent do the operating, accessory, sales and coupon costs and expenses come out. Coupons and all details of the plan, we are reliably informed, have been legally prepared and protected in every possible manner, and while it must be assumed that imitations will pop up here and there, the fundamental plan is one that is not easy to imitate, and the likelihood of such a possibility has been practically minimized. At any rate, both the participating merchants and the Of e.x'tra thickness, thirty inches wide by forty high, this many-colored poster puts over the Movie Cash idea in compelling zvords and illustrative effects. The merchant may place it in his icindozi', on the counter or in a prominent floor position. These important sales aids will help the theatre and the merchant: (A) silk -windoi^' banner in three colors for the merchant; (B) the sturdy, rainproof banner to be displayed by the theatre; (C) the ad slug for the theatre; (D) the ad slug for the merchant; (E) the impressive advertising handbill to be distributed in the stores and at schools. theatre are given all necessary protection. Theatremen desiring to participate in the plan can do so through the office of the company located at the nearest exchange center from which they get their films. If you have any trouble locating the office m your territory, just drop a line to STR and we'll give you the information you desire. There are just a few more points concerning the merchant we'd like to include here be'fore our space is gone. He is supplied with an elaborate press and campaign book entitled "The Story of Movie Cash," which contains sales helps and ideas to aid him in merchandising his product through the use of the special coupons. In addition, he receives gratis each month, a service, or bulletin, featuring ideas and stunts worked out by other merchants in other parts of the country during the preceding month, as well as the interchange of ideas. The valance he receives is a 4-foot silk valance in gold and blue; also a 30x40 silk screen process poster in four colors and an ample supply of handbills, one each of which he wraps in with each package he sells the first few weeks so as to get them in the homes. Merchant contact men are employed by the company. These men sign up the merchant, and if he wishes, he may contact the theatre to check and verify that the coupons he may agree to distribute will be honored at that theatre. An interesting advantage of the Movie Cash plan, in our opinion, is that it stimulates the exhibitor's business not on one or two nights Out of the week, but brings in extra patronage everj day. You tieed only make it known via tlie screen, the lobby and the marquee that you accept the coupons to h?ve the folks headed straight for your box office. You may, if you wish, tie up with the merchants and run a cooperative ad in the newspaper, or help him distribute circulars exnlaining the plan to the public. When theatremen were called in to pass upon every detail and weed out the weak spots, -they found no weak spots. Therefore, knowing the plan must be practical, we decided an analysis of it might best serve the showmen readers of STR who have heard about Movie Cash and who are anxious to know more about it. We hope we have made the Movie Cash plan clear to our readers. We have analyzed every detail of it in the simplest, most understandable terms we could devise — in a manner we are certain 3'ou'll easily comprehend. .A.nd yet. there may be a particular phase about which you are not sure, or you may think there is a flaw in the plan. In eitlier case, drop us a line.