The Exhibitor (1959)

September 23, 1959 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR EXT 57 SECTION THREE SEPTEMBER 23, 1959 vo,.62No.i9 EXPLOITATION I ACTUAL PROMOTIONS, accomplished by Experienced Theat remen, that can be applied with profit to many other Theatre Situations. This special section is published evary-second-week as a separately bound saveable service to all theatre executive subscribers to MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR. Each such cumulatively numbered saveable section represents current submissions that have been judged by the Editorial Board as having the originality and ticket selling force to warrant placement in the 1959 SHOWMEN OF THE YEAR CONTEST (explanation elsewhere). It is recommended that theatremen save complete annual consecutively numbered files ef these EXPLOITATION sections, and on the last page of each issue will be found a complete cumulative index for the year. Address all communications and submissions to the Editors of MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR, 246-48 N. Clarion St., Philadelphia 7, Pa. individual ACHIEVEMENT CITATIONS have been issued for each of these: E SCHOOL TIE-UPS NUMBER 18 A Place to Hold the Party THEATRE: Glenwood Drive-In, ADDRESS: Glenwood, Ark. MANAGER: Mrs. J. A. Eggerman Here is a school promotion deal that paid off for us. We have five small school districts in our trade area and we sent a letter to the super¬ intendent of each district asking that he an¬ nounce to his students that our drive-in was making the following offer: “Since we are closed on Thursday, the drive-in will be available on Thursdays for private parties and dances. We have a juke box and the snack bar will be open — or you can bring your own refreshments, if you choose. There will be no charge. However, we do ask that everyone expected to come have a written invitation so we can discourage party crashers. Please make reservations as far in advance as possible.” “Also, on any other night of the week, if any group plans a movie party, or wants to wind up an outing here at the drive-in, we will give them a special admission rate if we are notified in advance that they plane to come.” The response to this was very good, so we followed up by obtaining the names of the graduates of the nearest schools and sent them each two passes in a graduation con¬ gratulation card, with a personal “congratula¬ tions” written by hand and signed by us. These were all used and mostly the “thank you” was enthusiastic. We not only got some very good advertising at a small cost, but we have the good will of most of the students; and this is a big help in keeping down vandalism. STUNTS-BALLY NUMBER 67 “South Seas” Bally on Attractive Side THEATRE: Central, ADDRESS: Biddeford, Maine MANAGER: R. A. Bergeron For street ballyhoo to promote “South Pacific” among the summer tourists in the southeastern Maine beach area, we dressed up three theatre employees in sarongs and they paraded the beach and summer shopping areas carrying a sign which read “Now. South Pacific. Central Theatre, Biddeford.” They also distributed calling cards which read: “See us at the Central Theatre when you come to see ‘South Pacific’ (dates).” The girls wore these costumes during theatre business hours for the engagement; and “the islanders” proved very popular with camera toting tourists on the beaches and in the sight seeing areas of the southern Maine coast. We are sure that this simple little stunt These "Islanders" of the house staff of R. A. Bergeron's Central, Biddeford, Maine, attracted patronage for 20th-Fox's "South Pacific" as they strolled nearby beaches and the summer shopping area of the town. contributed toward our doing excellent business. _ i NUMBER 68 An Old, Old Stunt Proves Drive-in Hit THEATRE: Union Drive-In ADDRESS: Union, N. J. MANAGER: Cy O’Boyle We reached down into the bottom of the bag of exploitation tricks recently and came up with a real old one — a pie eating contest. This was held for all children attending a specified performance at the drive-in. Two weeks prior to the event, we used our public address system to publicize the stunt, and, in addition, carried publicity within our own newspaper ads. Free wirte ups were donated by the local papers. Prizes for the contest were promoted from a large local toy store and all pies were pro¬ moted from a commercial bakery. The contest consisted of four age groups, each having three winners who received prizes. This inexpensive front was created recently by Ken Finlay, manager, Texas, Texas City, Tex., to bally Allied Artists' "The Big Circus." That is the theatre personnel out front helping to add to the atmosphere. After the children’s pie eating contest had terminated, we then invited the mothers and fathers of the children who hadn’t won a prize to enter a contest of their own. This, of course, went over in a big way with the children. The stunt provided a hilarious evening before showtime and added that something extra in addition to the regular show. NUMBER 69 “Name The Breed” Contest for Dog Pic THEATRE: Bryan, ADDRESS: Bryan, Ohio MANAGER: A. W. Yahraus The highlight of our recent showing of the independent release, “Big Jeeter” from Citation Films, New York City, was a “name the breed” contest planted with the Bryan Times. The paper devoted a half page co-op ad to the contest. This pictured 16 breeds of dogs, as well as a list of 16 breeds. All one had to do was to place the number of the dog next to the correct breed. The winner had to name all 16 breeds correctly. Prizes included a six months pass to the theatre, and nine other prizes promoted from co¬ operating merchants. For street bally we borrowed the only Great Dane in Williams County, a really huge animal, bannered it with a small lettered blanket, and had a small boy lead it around the streets. A two-column photo of this also hit the cooperating newspaper. Our newspaper campaign started 10 days prior to opening and we used a total of 65 inches. In the rural papers, a total of six towns, we used four inches in each for a total of 24 inches. One sheets were posted around town at the swimming pool, baseball diamonds and downtown windows. We also posted at least 10 surrounding rural communities. A cardboard dog house was built from a large carton and lettered on the outside: “See Big Jeeter” etc. There was a peephole in front, lettered “Look, kids, who’s in the dog house.” A one-sheet was posted inside the carton with copy reading “You’ll be in the dog house if you miss ‘Big Jeeter’.” This was placed in the lobby three weeks prior to showing and moved out on the sidewalk during the run. Radio spots were used two weeks prior to playdate. An “A” board was constructed of beaverboard with a one-sheet utilized; and a sand¬ wich man walked around town the day be¬ fore opening and during the run. Mailing pieces numbering 2500 were sent from New York City to every home in Bryan plugging the film. You would be surprised how effective this was, due to the New York City post marks on the envelopes. The ad copy, “If you liked Lassie, Shaggy Dog, etc., you’ll love ‘Big Jeeter’ ” was used. We also plastered one-sheets on the rear of the car of one of our young ushers who drives everyplace; and this was seen at lake resorts, swimming pools, and dances, all over the town and surrounding area. SAVE THESE EXPLOITATION SECTIONS FOR A PERMANENT RECORD!