The Exhibitor (1951)

EP-10 EXTRA PROFITS ,s The Tii"® To Now s 1 CUT NOISE! At CUT COSTS! BOOST PROFITS! POPCORN PACKAGING COSTS! : Rex Noiseless Popcorn Bags cost up to 70% less than Boxes! GOOD NEWS! With newly increased production capacity, we can now supply a limited number of new customers with Rex Noiseless Popcorn Bags. Yes, now you can take advantage of big savings and enjoy quieter “houses” at the same time! Don’t delay . . — \ r— j rwy WRITE* OR WIRE FOR SAMPLES I\y£M Specialty Bag Corporation Serving the popcorn trade exclutively 101 ONDERDONK AVE., BROOKLYN 6, NEW YORK '****** MMJ90 The Best Drive-ins Are Featuring the ONE popping oil that DOES EVERYTHING! « __ _ \ . . . It pops America’s Best-Selling Popcorn! ... adds butter-like flavor, color and aroma that makes WW-t people ask for more. IT’S AMERICA’S MOST USEFUL FRYING OIL FOR DRIVE-INS! ID C. F. SIMONIN'S SONS, INC. Phna POPPING OIL SPECIALISTS TO THE NATION Popcorn And Public Relations Les Grand Warns On Improper Publicity St. Louis — At a regular meeting of ex¬ hibitors, Les Grand, district manager, Confection Cabinet Corporation, gave ex¬ hibitors something to think about. His talk, a most practical one, took an unusual twist for a man in the confection business. He stressed the necessity for the industry and everyone in it to endeavor to discount and eliminate the popular pastime of wisecracking about popcorn and its alleged big profits to the detriment of the real public relations program “convincing the American people that motion pictures are better than ever and still the greatest amusement buy and bargain for this country.” To emphasize his point that aiding and abetting the mistaken idea that the profits on popcorn carries the motion picture in¬ dustry is the type of thing “that some day will kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.” Grand quoted from some recent newspaper articles and cartoons to show how what at first may have been an amusing “wise crack” is now being very, very much overdone. “I think that we ought to soft tone pop¬ corn profits,” he said. “Of course, ex¬ hibitors are entitled to a legitimate profit on popcorn and other confections, etc., but some of the wild estimates of alleged profits may cause the public to think it is a racket.” In this connection he quoted a columnist as stating recently that “There is an 80 per cent profit in popcorn,” and that this is “what is keeping the motion picture in¬ dustry going.” He added that, of course, everyone knows there isn’t any 80 per cent profit in popcorn. Getting into the business of handling confections in a motion picture theatre, Grand advised exhibitors to keep their concession stands clean, or sooner or later they may get into trouble with the public health authorities. He said that since pop¬ corn is a food, the popcorn machinery must likewise be kept clean and attrac¬ tive. He stressed that there is no substi¬ tute for quality. “Don’t be price con¬ scious,” he continued. “The best is the cheapest in the long run.” Candydly Speaking ( Continued jrom page EP1) attendance in the conventional motion pic¬ ture theatre. This year, the increasing demands for manpower in many sections of the country will make it difficult to arrange for a flexible labor supply at a cost that the operation can afford to pay. It can be seen from the foregoing that it is going to be a real problem to realize normal profits from the operation of extra profits sales in drive-ins during the coming season. /■ur EXHIBITOR April 11, mi