The Exhibitor (1955)

18 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR Valuable Exploitation Keys To Profitable Merchandising UA's "Sabaka" Aided By Varied Campaign New York — A three-pronged promo¬ tion to back United Artists’ “Sabaka” with nation-wide store displays, contests, and eight solid weeks of TV network plugs has been set with Buster Brown Shoes, it was announced last week by Francis M. Winikus, national director of advertising, pub¬ licity, and exploitation for UA. The comprehensive campaign spotlight¬ ing the Technicolor spectacle will reach an estimated audience of 9,000,000 with a program slanted to both small fry and adults. Implemented in the field by the Brown sales and dealer organizations and United Artists’ exploitation force, the “Sabaka” co-op effort will spot impressive window displays at the 14,000 Brown outlets cov¬ ering every exchange area in the United States and Canada. Exhibits, which will be pinpointed to local playdate, will fea¬ ture the special 40 by 60 contest poster, window cards, and scene stills. To expedite store-theatre liaison, the shoe company has mailed all its dealers instruction bul¬ letins for the promotion. Important additional support will come from a coloring contest featuring young Nino Marcel, who makes his screen debut in “Sabaka.” Prizes for the competition, which will be jointly run by exhibitors and Brown outlets in the area, will in¬ clude Buster Brown Shoes and passes. A coloring contest mat, available at National Screen, will key heralds, and newspaper, radio, and TV publicity will back the com¬ petition. Eight consecutive weeks of video bally for “Sabaka” will be beamed over 97 ABC-TV stations via the Buster Brown program, “Smilin’ Ed’s Gang,” which stars Nino Marcel, the youngster who handles a key role in the film. The show will pitch a minimum of eight separate plugs for the WANTED SEVERAL EXPERIENCED THEATRE MANAGERS, by Independent Circuit expanding in Philadelphia, Pa., area. Excellent salary and good chance for advancement for responsible men who can manage and super¬ vise. Permanent position. WRITE TO BOX 158 M.P. EXHIBITOR, 246-48 N. Clarion Sf., Phila. 7, Pa. FOR SALE FREEZE-KING FROZEN CUSTARD MACHINE Used One Season F. M. WESTFALL THEATRES, INC. MARTINSVILLE, VA. Manager Max Mayor and contestant, left, are seen recently examining the Manitowoc refrigera¬ tor at the Metropolitan, Boston, as part of the exploitation for Warners' "Young At Heart." The co-op tieup featured a life-size cutout of Doris Day with ample credits for the picture. "Underwater!" Kit Created New York — A king-size promotion kit, bound in painted Incite to simulate ocean water, has been created for local-level exploitation by RKO fieldmen on behalf of Howard Hughes’ “Underwater!”, it was announced last week by Walter Branson, world-wide sales manager. The kit contains all advertising and publicity material prepared to date for the Superscope-Technicolor production, as well as special text and photo layouts on the recent underwater debut of the film in Silver Springs, Fla. In addition, the kit provides a detailed outline of sug¬ gested promotion campaigns, with infor¬ mation on tieups and how to utilize them in indivdual exploitation approaches. United Artists release, alerting viewers to watch for openings in their locality. Scenes from “Sabaka” will also be featured on the program every week. Theatre promotion will include special lobby displays, matinee discount tickets distributed through local dealers and lively street bally tying in the colorful Indian setting of “Sabaka” and Buster Brown co¬ op support. Schools will be brought into the campaign with screenings for teachers and educators and school -front distribu¬ tion of heralds and contest announcements. Colored Theatre Tickets Can Save Patron^s Life _ SWEDEN — A Swedish hunter buried by an avalanche for eight days near Tarnaby saved his life by waving a red movie ticket he found in his pocket. Evert Stenmark was saved when a search party saw the bit of red wav¬ ing feebly at the end of a stick he had thrust up through the snow. Doctors reported Stenmark suffered frostbitten feet but otherwise was in good condi¬ tion. He kept from starving by eating grouse he had shot. The moral is, “Don’t use white tickets; color may save a life.” Saturation Promotion Set For DCA's 'Silver' New York — A saturation promotion campaign designed to back up with maxi¬ mum effectiveness the saturation booking of DCA’s “Long John Silver” in 30 New England first runs, beginning Feb. 16, started last week in Boston. The New Eng¬ land territory has been divided into three areas. With Phil Knapp supervising, field men will work out of Boston, Providence, and New Haven tying up schools, news¬ papers, department stores, TV, and radio outlets for the multiple “Long John” pro¬ motions. The cooperation of Boston’s parochial schools in DCA’s “National Long John Silver Essay Contest” is already assured. The grand prizes are college scholarships for students submitting 1,000 word essays on Robert Louis Stevenson and Long John Silver. Schools are being heavily circu¬ larized. Additionally, a quantity of 16mm. prints of a short, narrated by Robert New¬ ton, showing how the picture was made, is being set up for school assembly pro¬ grams. The short carries the contest de¬ tails. The same 12-minute subject is also doing duty on television with top time having been arranged for its showing on Yankee network stations. Transcriptions, stressing Robert Louis Stevenson and his contri¬ bution to literature, have been made avail¬ able to radio outlets. Educational content of the platters assures maximum free time. Newspaper promotions are being set up in Boston and in other key New England towns. They include a treasure hunt and coloring contest. Trip to Florida, PaperMate pens, merchandise, free tickets, and cash prizes are the contest baits. 200,000 Long John Silver eye patches will be dis¬ tributed to kids during the week before the opening. The DCA pattern of complete and specialized covering of individual areas will be followed in Washington and Bal¬ timore where “Long John Silver” opens later in February. Already the New York campaign, headed toward an April open¬ ing, is underway with the essay contest having drawn support from educational leaders here. Macy’s is cooperating in a city-wide treasure hunt, timed to coincide with the opening day. Already in preparation are plans for promotional campaigns on DCA’s next two releases, “The Stranger’s Hand” and “I Am A Camera.” "Purple Plain" Boomed New York — United Artists’ “The Purple Plain,” Technicolor romantic drama star¬ ring Gregory Peck, will be drumbeat to better than 2,500,000 readers throughout the country with a citation in the Feb¬ ruary issue of Seventeen magazine. The selection of the film, based on the best¬ selling novel by H. E. Bates, as a Picture of the Month continues the high-gear campaign booming the feature. February 9, 1955