Associated First National Franchise (1921)

February 1 $ , 1Q2I First National Franchise u F^n JfastraHons In Ads SAy JJ> WITH BOOKINGS!! William Friedman, manager of the Metro politan Theatre, one of Cleveland's largest first run houses, recently made use of French illustrations with remarkable success in connection with a week's showing of "MARRIED LIFE" produced by Mack Sennett and distributed by Associated First National Pictures, Inc. His equipment for the make-up of the advertising matter used were half a dozen copies of "La Vie Parisienne" and "La Sourire" two illustrated comic weeklies published in Paris. From all the illustrations in the twelve magazines he selected only two, both of them distinctly French in their design. One showed a man clothed in pajamas chucking a maid under the chin, with a large female, very evidently his wife, approaching from the rear with a heavy cane clutched in on hand. The other showed a couple nearly buried under a deluge of hat boxes, and the woman presenting the obviously married man with a bill about two feet long. No caption was used in connection with either of the drawings. The remainder of the layout for the display consisted of these words arranged in four lines: '"MARRIED LIFE' "Not a War Picture. "A First National Attraction "Metropolitan — NOW." "Peaceful Valley" In Albany Uly S. Hill, manager of Proctors' Harmanus Bleecker Hall, Albany, N. Y., used a novel means of advertising the Charles Ray picture, "PEACEFUL VALLEY," starring Charles Ray and distributed by First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., when that film appeared in his playhouse recently. Mr. Hill and his publicity man rigged out a "Rube" got a one-horse wagon, mounted a sign "Free Apples from PEACEFUL VALLEY" with Charles Ray, and had the wagon load of apples driven through the business section of the city each day for a week prior to and during the week the picture played at his house. With the "Rube" was another "Rube" who aided in calling attention to the advertising stunt, by singing and telling jokes. On the Monday that the picture opened at the Hall, Mr. Hill, who is a Shriner, had arranged for a mammoth Shriners' "ladies' day." "Don ft Ever Marry 9 ' W. G. Shaefer, manager of the Vaudette Theatre, West Point, Ga., brought several new ideas into play when he devised in his latest •exploitation a campaign to put over "Don't Ever Marry," Marshall Neilan's second independent production distributed by Associated First National Pictures, Inc. About ten days before the picture was scheduled to open, Mr. Shaefer used such slides as : "Said Myra to Joe: 'Take it from a widow who knows, Don't Ever Marry.' " "Jim straightway went and did! The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rocks the world. Every Ouija board in town is talking it — 'Don't Ever Marry.' " Three days before the picture opened, five hundred postcards carrying sentences similar to those quoted in the foregoing were mailed to a list of what Mr. Shaefer calls "prospective brides and grooms," the young people in town ranging in ages from sixteen to twenty-five :years. and your Birthday Congratulations will be appreciated — First Nationals First Anniversary Week -jjr is destined to set a record for a total number of bookings in this territory. Even the few exhibitors who have not become franchise holders "You light it Old Cyclone, I might blow it." have caught the spirit. Expressing in the fullest sense their appreciation for what this organization has accomplished in their behalf, they are booking solidly, in many cases, for the entire week. A cancellation of other service, previously booked, is a common occurrence. It looks like a First National Landslide. The exhibitor who fails to respond will be the notable exception ONE YEAR OLD FEB. 16 AND WE'RE SOME YOUNGSTER Some of our best friends have dubbed it ''First National's Prosperity Week" because it's going to get the "big money." Send in the attached card with your open dates immediately. Make the going "tough" for yonr competitor. Tear off here and mail today. The inside of a S x 9 inch mailing folder, printed in red and green, used by the Seattle exchange. It was sent to exhibitors, who returned it with booking requests Rialto In Hamilton Uses Newspaper SPREADS PUBLICITY FOR "WHAT WOMEN LOVE" OVER SIX-DAY PERIOD AND CASHES IN MARKED by a thoroughness and attention to detail that makes it stand in a class itself when considered in the light of other exploitation campaigns waged in the smaller cities in behalf of "What Women Love," is the city-wide publicity put over for this feature by the Rialto Theatre, Hamilton, Ohio. Compiling the various gains made by the theatre in the running of this contest, might be mentioned : (1) — Six days of advance publicity, from January 12th to January 18th, during which time a two-column daily feature heading "What Women Love" was given twelve inches of type space. (2) — A total of 106 inches of free publicity. But far more interesting than the details of the contest conducted by the Rialto Theatre with the cooperation of the Hamilton Journal, is the fact that other showmen by pursuing the tactics employed by the Rialto can put over the same stunt with chances for like success in their own respective territories. The Rialto started the ball rolling by interesting the advertising manager of the Hamilton Journal in the title of the picture — "What Women Love" starring Annette Kellerman and distributed by Associated First National Pictures, Inc. The theatre followed up this lead by suggesting that a contest sponsored locally by the newspaper to find out just what it is that women love. In case other exhibitors who have as yet not played "What Women Love" desire to clip this story and refer it to local newspapers with the idea of putting on a similar exploitation campaign, the following "What Women Love Write a Letter! If you, as an exhibitor, have something on your mind, you'll feel better by writing it to us. We are going to devote a column in FRANCHISE to letters from exhibitors. If there's anything you want to know, write us. If we can't answer the question, we'll find someone who can for you. Contest Rules" as published in the Hamilton Journal, issue of January 12th, are quoted : "Twenty-five dollars for the best answer to the question 'What Women Love.' "Contest starts today and ends Tuesday, January 18th, at 6 p. m. "All answers must be in the hands of the contest editor of the Journal not later than that date. "Every person in Hamilton is eligible to compete. "In addition to the cash prize, two tickets will be given by the management of the Rialto Theatre to every person sending in an answer to the question 'What Women Love?' "Send or bring your answer to the contest editor of the Journal. "The winning answer and the award of prizes will be announced at the Rialto Thursday night." Answers to the question "What Women Love?" continued to pour into the newspaper office from the 12th on through the 18th; but on the latter date the Journal announced : "It's all over. "At six o'clock tonight the 'What Women Love' contest ends. "The ladies who will assume the responsibility of judging the best answers are: Mrs. Stella Weiler Taylor, Mrs. Suzette Palmer and Mrs. Robert Fisher." The beauty about this exploitation campaign from the theatre's point of view was that the publicity did not end with the opening of the picture on the 18th ; but on the other hand the greatest amount of publicity given up until that time appeared on the evening of the 19th when the Journal not only published the last of the contest letters, but in addition gave the picture a tremendous boost by running a news story of the opening of the picture and praising the production highly. The most remarkable thing about the campaign was that it was launched in the interest of a picture scheduled for a three-day showing. The publicity smash extended over six days and continued up until the last dav. Such exploitation rarely fails to put over "a good picture. And in the case of "What Women Love" it was especially successful. A glance at the excellent results secured shows the value of a "What Women Love" contest from a publicity standpoint. It Certainly Surprised Us When We Saw It '