Year book of motion pictures (1932)

— Hat Contest Bathing suits are on the wane for contests, but hats are stable, and there are a couple of ideas that can give something to talk about. One idea is to let each store handling hats enter a model and permit the audience to decide by applause. Naturally the stores are going to pick the prettiest girls they can find, so the theater is assured a bunch of lookers. Hang a curtain to conceal all but the heads so that the contest will be centered on hats and faces alone. □ — Ad-Swap Arrange with local merchants for ad space in the borders of their newspaper ads in return for a screen campaign on "trade at home" movement. Stores run house and current play title instead of usual border, and spread your theater ad all over the paper. House pays for the slides, and merchants buy the space. A fair swap. □ — High School Boost On the occasion of the local high school playing an out-of-town game, you can sponsor a fund raised by the merchants to hire busses to take the players and the rooters to the game. Divided up among several stores, the cost is nominal, and the high school students will appreciate it. The stunt is best worked during the football season, when local enthusiasm runs high. The busses start from your theater, and you might finish with a Football Party at your house after the game. □ — Lingerie Use on a feature with a strong feminine angle, where there is plenty of lingerie on display. A style shop or department store is tied in with to give a special display of lingerie at a matinee for ladies only. The lingerie can be modeled by girls from the store. It is sure to bring the women in, and when they go home and talk about it, the men will want to see the picture, too. □ — Puzzle Solvers When combined with a hook-up page for the co-op merchants, this makes a good gag to interest the puzzle solvers. The contestants are required to visit each store in the contest. In each store window is carried one of the letters from the last name of the star of the feature. To secure free tickets, it is necessary to solve the puzzle, and state in which window each of the letters is placed. n — Careful Drivers You can use this as the basis to get the local merchants interested in promoting a Spring Sale Week, Summer Sales, or Fall Openings. The newspaper is sure to cooperate with the resultant increase in advertising from the stores. As there will be lots of people coming in from out of town, this means traffic congestion. So you ballyhoo the necessity for careful driving. With the help of the police who note down the numbers of cars with specially careful drivers, you offer free tickets to these upon application at your box office. —Kids' Party ° A goodwill builder for the merchants. It helps them to get acquainted with folks in the outlying regions. The merchants supply cars to bring the children into a special showing previously advertised by you and themselves in newspaper ads. Other merchants can supply refreshments to make the party a big success. □ — Personality Hairdress A variation on the usual hairdressing contest. The competitors are not asked to imitate the star's hairdress, but are judged on the basis of the hair arrangement that best expresses their personality, as does that of the star in the picture. A natural for the beauty shops, who give it window display. The contest is judged on your stage, with the hairdressers acting as judges. □ — Cracked Safe Where your picture features a safe robbery in a western or underworld, this is always a reliable attention-getter. Arrange with the bank to place an old s|fe in the window. It must give the appearance of having been blown open by yeggs. Money sacks are scattered around. The card in the bank wfindow stresses the idea that the bank's deposit vaults offer ample protection for valuables. □ — Waitress Contest This forms a neat ballyhoo for advance publicity on a feature that strikes a waitress angle. Every restaurant competes, selecting the prettiest girl. These entries appear on your stage between the two night shows. The applause of the audience decides the winner. By making it an advance stunt, it gives the girls plenty of opportunity to talk about it to their customers and friends. □ — Photo Studio A good tie in with a local photographer, the idea being a variation on that one of passing out checks to start savings accounts. You arrange with the photographer for a rebate on orders for photographs. The rebate is given in the form of a check from the theater, handed out with the admission ticket. The check calls for a rebate if the order is placed within a certain date. Especially good around the holiday season. 694