The Exhibitor (1962)

November 21, 1962 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR tX.459 MGM Launches Gant, All-Inclusive Campaign For "Billy Roses Jumbo" Mason City. Also invited to the premiere were the alumni of the Band, who were now graduated and no longer playing with them. R. Leslie Saunders, the LHS Band director, and the man most of Lebanon County con¬ siders their own “Music Man,” was one of the speakers of the stage show presented be¬ fore the showing of the film. Bob Harris, a local TV personality, was m.c. of the formalities during which the Mayor again congratulated the Band and Edward McGovern announced Comerford’s intention to present the Band with a percent¬ age of the money made from the sale of tickets for the premiere. Each of the speak¬ ers was escorted to and from the stage by one of the four attending contestants of the “Miss Lebanon Valley” contest. Since the period in which “The Music Man” is set was not only the beginning of highschool marching bands, but also the beginning of the barber-shop quartet movement, the stage show was completed by the Lebanon chapter of the Society for the Preservation of Barbar-shop Quartet Singing in America. This group. The Cedar Chorus of Lebanon, was comprised of 32 members from the com¬ munity and was led by a guest conductor, Robert H. Loose, of Harrisburg, Pa. They sang three old favorites in much the same style as the Buffalo Bills did in the motion picture. The Band Parents’ Organization which was largely responsible for the Band’s new uni¬ forms for the Iowa trip, had their spring concert recorded and made into records to be sold to the public as a means of replenishing the much depleted band fund. This group asked the permission of the the¬ atre to have orders taken for these records during the benefit premiere. The Colonial not only agreed to this request but allowed these orders to be taken in the lobby of the theatre for the duration of the showing of “The Music Man” which was over three weeks. The Organization took newspaper ads stating the records were available in the Colonial lobby. The cooperation of the the¬ atre with the Band Parents in the sale of these records made their opportrmity for profits increase greatly and the organization was very grateful to the theatre staff for their help in the endeavor. It was not just cooperation between the Band and its officials that promoted the film. Indeed, there was great mutual benefit in¬ curred by cooperation of the business men of the commrmity. The Center of Lebanon Association helped in the advertising of the premiere by displaying over 100 signs and window cards prominently. Two local music stores had window displays and also sold pre¬ miere tickets for a week before the perform¬ ance. The local Chamber of Commerce was also behind the promotion of the premiere because they had been the coordinating body of the commimity’s efforts to get the band new uniforms and raise the funds to send them to Mason City. One business firm, the Girard Loan office, which happens to be directly across the street from the opposition theatre, had a large “Music Man” display advertised two weeks before premiere date. This was changed to advertise the film as “Now Play¬ ing.” The largest department store in town, the Bon Ton, ran a coop ad, which gave large coverage to the film. This ad was then posted in front of the theatre. The Bon Ton also ran a contest giving away tickets to the the¬ atre as prizes. This contest and its winners (Continued on page EX-460) NEW YORK — ^Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s gi¬ gantic nationwide “Showmanship ’63” cam¬ paign to launch “Billy Rose’s Jumbo” now looms as one of the largest, most all-inclusive advertising promotion exploitation publicity campaigns in film history. First public evidence of the multi-faceted program will be put on view for millions of sidewalk New Yorkers as well as national television audiences when a giant “Jumbo” float sponsored by MGM and New York’s Ra¬ dio City Music Hall takes to Broadway for the famed Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Aboard this elaborate float, Jimmy Durante will portray in person the role he created for the film, that of circus master. He’ll be joined on the float by the equally-famed Corps de Ballet of the Music Hall. Stephen Boyd, who also stars, visited New York for a roimd of publicity meetings; Durante will fly to Gotham from Las Vegas for a quick press party hosted by MGM and his appearance in the parade and then will jet back to the west coast for a turkey dinner with his family, and producer Joe Pasternak is on the road for a 15-city tour stopping at the key spots where the film will open as the Christmas season attraction. During the Macy’s parade, more than 10,000 specially-imprinted Jumbo balloons will be distributed along the parade route. The same type of balloon will be available in quantities for each engagement. To meet the heavy demand for holiday bookings of the film, MGM has initiated an initial print order numbering 400, and at this time more than 250 theatres will be present¬ ing the attraction during the Christmas-New Year holidays. It is the largest print order to come from the studio in more than a year. Backing the film will be promotion and ex¬ ploitation from several firms tied in with an overall budget exceeding $2,000,000. Headed by a million-dollar plus promotion budget firmed by Quaker Oats and the In¬ dependent Grocers Alliance, the film will be ballyhooed via record albums and single rec¬ ords, department store promotions, toys, bal¬ loons, special touring costume displays, floats in numerous holiday parades around the na¬ tion, heavy coverage in the nation’s maga¬ zines and newspapers, and special theatrical materials and publicity. Quaker Oats Company’s $1,000,000 tie-in program includes free tickets (for children accompanied by adults) distributed in 50,000,000 packages, plus offering as a premium a specially designed inflated toy of the Jumbo elephant and smaller models of four Jumbo friends — a lion, seal, tiger, or clown. The premium and ticket plan is being heralded in national magazine, newspaper, radio and television advertising and via ex¬ tensive local supermarket and grocery store displays. The tie-in with Independent Grocers Alli¬ ance (IGA) embraces newspaper-TV-radio advertising, store level exploitation with an initial budget of $500,000 covering the 7000 member grocers. It is the most extensive IGA tie-in in the grocer association’s history and was effected through meetings of MGM ex¬ ecutives and Donald Grimm, president of IGA, and other IGA executives. Columbia Records is betting that its orig¬ inal soundtrack of Jumbo, featuring Rodgers and Hart songs sung by star of the picture and one of its all-time top warblers, Doris Day, will be one of the hottest selling albums of the pre-Christmas season and is backing thig theory with heavy advertising and pro¬ motion. MGM Records will issue a special LP fea¬ turing music from the film score played by Omadel, also with heavy advertising back¬ ing, and Verve Records will have a special new pressing of “The Rodgers and Hart Songbook,” which is one of Ella Fitzgerald’s monumental best-sellers. This also is to re¬ ceive special pre-Jumbo-opening advertising and exploitation. MGM Studios has assembled several ex¬ hibits of the more than 200 costumes of the early 1900s from the picture to tour for dis¬ play in principal department and chain store windows. The stores which will participate before Christmas will have the “Jumbo” theme for merchandise tied in with displays of costumes and records, while po^t-Christmas sales will be identified as Jumbo Events. In addition to the MGM field staff and representatives of the various companies tiedin with the film, MGM arranged for “special attraction” representatives when it provided publicity kits for all the various circus acts which appeared in the film. These acts, now touring the U. S. and Europe with numerous circuses, serve as walking advertisements for the film. Size, scope and entertainment value of the film, determined at special screenings, has re¬ sulted in heavy play in national, regional and local magazines, this phase having been kicked off with a cover story in Look Mag¬ azine early in the fall. Special mailings of features and color and black and white art to newspapers, trade magazines and other media has resulted in excellent pre-opening coverage there as well, this expected to be much intensified as book¬ ings open. Additionally, MGM, through Precis Magazine, has initiated a special mailing to more than 21,000 house organs, small magaiznes and weekly newspapers, offering special features, photos, and mats. The Studio has begun a “Jumbo” “Bulletin Service” for theatres, field representatives and other outlets, and in line with the bigness of the picture and its box office prospects, cur¬ rently is preparing the largest and most ex¬ tensive pressbook since that for “Butterfield 8” more than a year ago. The world premiere of the film will be at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, to be followed by other key theatres. These will be backed by a mammoth newspaper, radio and television advertising campaign at opening, and where openings are coincidental with special local events, tie-ins have been effected, including participation with a float in the an¬ nual Parade of the Roses in Pasadena, Calif., on the day of the Rose Bowl game. Robert Mochrie, general sales manager of MGM, said, “Exhibitors are anticipating ex¬ ceptional grosses for this blockbuster. It is an ideal holiday attraction and an entertainment package that will make it one of the most popular films ever made. We at MGM are delighted to release such a picture in the great tradition of MGM entertainment.”