The Film Daily (1931)

Wednesday, June 10, 1931 EXPLOITETTES \ Clearing House for Tabloid Exploitation /</<•</.» o Tit -up With Soap Manufacturer TpHE advertising itafl of the Strand theater in Birmingham, Ala. ii responsible for adding some new wrinkles to an old exploitation stunt. In connection with the showings of Warner Bros, production of "Fifty Million Frenchmen" the Strand management made a deal with tin manufacturer of a toilet soap whereby he was to buy five hundred admission tickets t" the picture. These he was to turn over to a department store, to l>e used as prizes for purchasers of the soap. Part of the plan called for the department store to advertise the picture in all its Saturday and Sunday ads. The scheme went through, the ■• devoting 125 lines double column to "Fifty Million Frenchmen" in all of its week-end ads. —Strand, Birmingham Ala. Merchandising Concern Has Own Ballyhoo \/fERCHANTS, department stores and sporting goods houses throughout the country are clamoring to tie-up in exploitation stunts with the showings of the Bobby Jones series of Vitaphone shorts on "How I Play Golf." A new wrinkle was introduced in connection with the series in Youngstown, Ohio, last week by Sears, Roebuck & The mail order house had its golf professional at the new Warner theater all week ready to explain and dilate on the problems treated of by Bobby Jones in his openine picture. How important this tie-up was to Sears. Roebuck & Co. was shown by its taking considerable advertising space in the papers telling of the presence of its golf professional at the theater. — Warner, Youngstown, 0. NED E. DEPINET has returned from a buiineu trip to Canada. JOHN G. ADOLF1 . in New York (or a vi«it. B. F. I. VON", Canadian sales manager for Warner Bros., is back from Montreal. Toronto and St. John. GiNGER ROCKRS. signed liy RKO Path< tn .'ppear with F.ddir Ouillan in "Eddie Cuts In." left yesterday for the coast LEO McCAREY is en his way luck to Hollywood after a brief visit in New York. HARRY ROSENQUEST, assistant sair. of Vitapbtne shcits, left yeaterdaj FA i trip throiiKh the middle west. wr% ■ i ■ "1V~V iV RlAlTO I»HILK1D\LY • • • THIS IS our Golf Story, and we stick to It ...in spite of the RAIN Here We are at White Plains with the muggs who journeyed up from Film Row for a quiet (?) day at golf White Plains, as you know, is where so many of those sensational murder trials of Westchester County have taken place looking over this bunch in their fancy sport outfits with their faces marked by the scars of many a tough film battle they look like a first-class aggregation of highbinders it wouldn't surprise us at all if another Ghastly Crime is recorded here today at the Fenimore Country Club there is a sizeable bunch of exhibs among the gang and what's to prevent 'em lying in wait for one of the producer execs up there around the bend in the course where a thick clump of trees overshadows the fairway they wouldn't have to do any violence as he approached they could all pretend to be looking for lost balls in the rough then they would call to him to come in among the trees and help 'em once in the thicket, they'd surround him and just keep staring hard at him as they slowly circled around him without saying a word just piercing him with accusing looks and the film exec would recall all the palooka pix he sold 'em at a Stiff Price and die of a Guilty Conscience assuming, of course, that a film exec HAS a conscience but mebbe that's assuming a helluva lot • • • AS USUAL, several of the contestants got lost on the way up in their cars, and arrived a H'l late one mugg went as far is Boston, following the Boston Post Road taking it literally he's a screen writer, and used to following well beaten paths Billy Ferguson phoned up to the club house that he'll be a trifle delayed he had to stop off to see a guy about a dog that barks like the Eingecm Lion as long as it doesn't purr like a kitten, guess Billy is reasonably safe but we've hoard these dog stories before from Billv * * * * • • • TO LISTEN to this bunch of golf goofers talk, you wouldn't think there was any national depression they talk in millions as usual so when they come to mark their score cards they have an awful battle with 'emselves the temptation to put in a lotta figures is almost overpowering but if they did, they'd probably be telling the TRUTH on their score cards • • • ONE OF the boys from out-of-town got slightly mixed he wore his golf outfit to dive in the swimming pool the color in his red sweater ran An East Side exhib wandered in just then, and saw the discolored pool "Ohmigawd! Red Ink!" he yells, and rushes out like mad we haven't seen him since the guy who made the mistake in the pool is out on the course wearing his bathing suit a guy's got to wear something on a ritzy course like this • • • A FRIENDLY warning is extended to all hands not to eat Too Much at luncheon the Big Feed comes at the evening banquet among the muggs who have insisted to the Committee that they want to make speeches are Red Kann, F. Wynne-Jones, Al Lichtman, Lee Ochs, Jerry Beatty and Harry Warner the rest of the gang are just satisfied to EAT quite sensible, say we it is confidently expected that there will be an unusual number of hole-in-ones chalked up today so many of you muggs have been in a hole so long that it oughta be a cinch Fore! « « « » » » TIMELY TOPICS A Digest of Current Opinions €) Folly of Cutting Advertising Budget WOULD ** lights you turn off the in your canopy to save money during the so-called depression;' Ridiculous? Then why even think of cutting your advertising budget at a time when it is necessary to do more energetic and concentrated selling to keep seats filled. Depression brings home to the reckless and sloven the necessitv of judicious spending. Wc say, "Cut with consideration everywhere, but not the advertising budget." "Think, scheme and exert every ounce of energy to make the advertising dollar do double, triple and quadruple duty during harder times to fill extra seats." What good are fine cars, if you can't sell them? What good are great pictures if they don't fill seats. You're in a fast business. You have to fill seats quickly. They're salable only a few hours each day. in most cases. Utilize sagaciously mediums that pull and sell quickly. Y'ou can't depend on natural theater-going habit to fill seats. You can't wait until it's talked around that you have a good show. You can't sit and hope for ideal theater weather to pack your house. You have to sell, exploit and advertise in up and at 'em fashion. And that takes brains, ambition and energy backed up by a prosperous budget. The wise spending of the last dollar has turned innumerable cases of depressions into prosperity. As vital as to the body of man, advertising and selling is the heart of the theater. When the heart is affected, death moves in too soon take possession. Cut! And cut! But not the heart! — William Jacobs, Associated Pubications Many Happy Returns Best wishes and congratulations are extended by THE FILM DAILY to the followi bers of the industry, who are ing their birthdays: June 10 Dorothy Farnum Virginia Valli Leopold Friedman Vera Lewis Cleve Moore ng mencelebrat