Boxoffice (Jan-Mar 1962)

SERV-O-MAT automatic butter dispenser . . . modern . . . efficient . . . durable . . . proved in thousands of locations BUTTER -SERVER . . . manually operated . . . budget priced . . . top quality deluxe Butter Cup 1 now| genuine Buttercups available for immediate delivery. Order your supply today! Regular & king size. • Buttercup Accessories • hot fudge serving equipment. Send for details on all items. Server Sales inc. north 88 west 16447 main street, menomonee falls, Wisconsin Color Is Factor in The psychology of color, long apparent but neglected area of study, and its effect on sales and buying motivation is proving of interest to not only theatre equipment designers and manufacturers but also to exhibitors and others concerned with vending and concessions sales. Theatre equipment manufacturers, even though they haven’t the facilities for extensive color psychology studies, rely on industrial finishing suppliers and services such as DuPont, which has available research on color and merchandising. For the exhibitor, usually it is well that he follow the standard manufacturer finishes on his vending and concessions supplies. However, in basic concessions decoration where the exhibitor has the say-so on wall, floor and trim colors, he must consider color effects on patrons — color psychology. A psychological study made at Johns Hopkins University, for instance, found that walls painted blue or green led to more calmness and relaxation than walls painted a neutral color such as grey. In addition, blue and green seem to recede into the background making rooms appear larger than they are. Warm colors, such as red, yellow and orange, however, stimulate emotions and appear closer than they really are, according to the Johns Hopkins study. Market researchers explain that color determines why people buy as they do, and they list among their findings that brown will sell coffee, baked beans or tobacco, but it won’t do a thing for hardware, which moves best against blue. Take the example of the margarine manufacturer who used a cake of blue ice on his package and found his sales lessening day by day. Market researchers found Concessionaires Schedule Meetings in Three Cities Harry Mandel, vice-president of RKO Glen Alden Corp. and president of RKO Theatres, Inc., will be one of the guests of the National Ass’n of Concessionaires eastern regional meeting March 20 at the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York City. Emanuel Frisch, president of ACE and an executive of the Randforce Amusement Co., Brooklyn, also will be a guest and a speaker at the session. Irving Shapiro, Concessions Enterprises, Boston, and NAC regional vice-president, is chairman of the NAC eastern meeting, and Lee Koken, RKO Theatres, New York City, and past officer of NAC, is co-chairman. The session will start at 10 a.m. and will break at noon for a luncheon to be hosted by Coca-Cola. A reception following afternoon adjournment will be sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. Additional regional meetings are scheduled for March 8, during the Show-ARama V sessions in Kansas City, Mo., and on May 8 at the Lord Simcoe Hotel in Toronto, Ont. The Kansas City meeting will draw over 800 exhibitors from 20 to 25 states. Concessions Sales that the blue ice started shoppers on the wrong train of thought — blue ice, lifeless, unnatural, synthetic! A new drawing, the margarine bar against a background of colorful flowers, brought more positive associations and sent sales up. Theatremen, though they may feel inadequate in the matter of color selection, should devote much thought to the psychology of color in redecorating, not only their concessions bars, but other parts of the theatre as well. Assistance is available from paint companies and from research institutions such as DuPont. The first show is in the lobby Movies are better than ever. So are the appetites of the people who enjoy them. That's where your ice cream novelties get into the act. Especially when they have a 4-star display in a Bally Case. Gleaming Porcelain finish gives real showmanship to your products. Whether it’s in theatre lobbies or in drive-in refreshment counters, the result is the same in both places ... increased ice cream sales. Model TI-30 above for theatre lobbies, 30" long, Approx. 875 novelties. Model TI-43 to right for drive-ins, 43" long, Approx. 1194 novelties. (8a$&/ Bally Case and Cooler, Inc. Bally, Pennsylvania Write Dept. BX for more details. 12 The MODERN THEATRE SECTION