The film daily year book of motion pictures (1935)

By making it an advance stunt, it gives the girls plenty of opportunity to talk about it to their customers and friends. REPEAL ADVANTAGE Special sundaes have been used as tie-ups for the past 15 years but in repeal communities, live-wire managers can get the same advantage from specially named cocktails. Hotels, bars and night clubs are the possibilities for the tie-ups. Names such as "The Cagney Kick", "The Joe E. Brown Bunny", "The Ned Sparks Sour", "The Schnozzler" and a host of others. Bartenders always have some new concoction that they are glad to introduce. Time the introduction of the special cocktail with the opening and playing of your picture featuring the name. ULTRA SWIM-SUITS The theater, bathing pool and newspaper are all tied in on this one. First the paper prints a letter from the manager in which he states that the house is thumbs down on bathing beauty contests because of the abbreviated suits of modern days. Then follows a letter to the paper from the bathing pool manager defending the back-less suits, etc., etc. Storips run back and forth for a while wh^n the theater manager states that he is willing to put it to the vote of his audience. The bathing pool manager states that he will stage a review at his oool. Double-roll tickets are used and full admission to both theater and pool is charged, but only those with the special tickets will be admitted. Ballots are handed out and the result read from the stage, and the pool. HALF PRICE SODAS If you have a Mickey Mouse Club, or similar juvenile organization for Saturday morning shows, arrange with a soda fountain nearby to allow the kids to use their special matinee stubs for a half-price drink. The ticket with a nickel is good for any 10-cent drink. AD-SWAP Arrange with 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 ad all over the paper. Your theater pays for the slides, and merchants buy the newspaper 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 buses 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 buses start from your theater, and you might finish with a football party at your house after the game. FOR THE KIDS Take advantage of kids' love for toys, and incidentally the allure a toy train has for the grown-ups. Make the local toy shop a standing offer that you will display in your lobby any brand-new device in the toy market. Kids and their daddies will flock around a train exhibit especially if it is a remote control contraption. Also try out the jigsaw puzzle stunt. Have someone sit in the lobby assembling on a specially constructed board, the largest jigsaw puzzle obtainable. An erector set will also hold attention. All the time more people are flocking into your lobby which in turn means more paid customers. ANOTHER RAFFLES A variation of the Raffles stunt is to first tie up with a newspaper so that the readers will be notified each day just where Raffles or Mr. and Mrs. Raffles will appear. Tell the costumes they will wear but in smaller communities be careful not to be too explicit regarding the clothes. Tie-up with bus lines having the fugitives riding to a certain outof-town community during any given 24 hours on a certain bus. Tie-up with a department store, having Raffles make a certain purchase during the day or week. Think out other angles for yourself. It can be worked out at little expense and with added profits. CITY DAY Have the city officials and merchants association join together in a special day named for your town to boost prosperity. Every merchant in town joins by offering attractive reasons whv the citizens should loosen uo and buy. Trolleys and buses give free rides to shopping districts during certain hours. Leading garages and parking spaces give free parking to anyone presenting a sales slip from any store. The telephone company phones housewives to remind them of bargain day. Taxi companies cut a flat 25 cents from anywhere in city limits to center. Leading restaurants cut the price on their luncheon menus. The theater can get in on this one to advantage in many ways, especially if you take a lead in promoting the gala day. NEWSPAPER AID This is good in a small town where your theater is some distance from the newspaper office. Make a deal with the editor to send a man around to your theater every evening and pick up the news. Have a standing screen notice that persons desiring to contribute personal items for the paper may hand them in at the box-office instead of going downtown to the newspaper office. Late items, if important, are phoned in. The editor should appreciate the courtesy, and will be generous with mention of your theater.