Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Feb 1945)

The Selling Approach ON NEW PRODUCT of the dht,ibutor> extloiteen about the sellmg /.<,,«" «nd speeml mer,t r Piper Cub Flies Over City To Sell ''Tokyo' BLONDE FEVER (Metro Goldwyn Mayer): Here Is one with a natural title tor exploitation, and many gags are suggested. Various contests are in order tor wornen with blonde hair, and you nnight try to tind the most popular blonde waitress in town, which ties in directly with the P'cture Peephole displays in windows or lobby can be captioned "FOR MEN ONLY' , with scene stills and copy within reading: Meet the high pressure blonde In the season s most contagious comedy", etc. j =„j Beauty shop tieups are made to order, and department stores should go for special promotions and co-op ads featuring wearing apparel, etc. ,for blondes. For street ballyhoo, use a young man bearing a placard reading: "Don't come near me gals; IVe got Blonde Fever' Or use a gir and the copy, "Keep away from me, boys it you're allergic to Blonde Fever , etc. Another qood street device is a small counter tended by a man rigged out in cap and gown who wears a long false-beard. Signs state: _ Take advice from a wise old man. Free advice to those suffering from Blonde Fever. The advice is, of course, to go see the picture at your theatre. • , A novel window display which may be arranged with a furniture store is the old gag of having a man in bed surrounded with photos of blondes. Card copy reads:^^ You n get Blonditis, too, when you see . . . , etc PRACTICALLY YOURS (Paramount): Aside from the fact that there are good name values in the cast and that the distributor has a fine array of lithos and ad material, do not overlook the expioitatiqn of this._ A "live baby" giveaway is suggested and should prove very effective in P^blicizi^+he attraction through word-of-mouth advertising^ Line up your merchants in +^^'^,P^°"?°^'°^7^^ window ^lisplays announcing: "Fred MacMu ray, who has one in 'Practically Yours . offers you a live baby FREE if you will come m and pick the lucky number". , j j Passersby who enter the store are handed a circular with lucky numbers Stubs are de^ posited in theatre lobby °n a specified night a drawing is conducted, with the winner getting a live puppy-dog. Build up the gag in the lobby by construct^ inq a small room from which baby cries and noises emanate. Copy announces that the live baby to be given away is inside. The title is a natural for store co-op ads, with tiein copy reading: "Blank store announces unadvertised bargains that are Practically Yours'," etc. . . 4. A dog "Piggy", which plays an important role in the film, suggests a contest for children with prizes awarded to those who have pets with the most unusual names. Music tieups are possible through the hit tune, "1 Knew It Would Be This VVay (Fannous Music Corp., 1619 Broadway, New York). A well-rounded campaign was utilized by I Arnold J. Coffey for his date on ' Thirty Sec-, onds Over Tokyo" at the Carolma theatre,: Hickory N. C. Well in advance of the open-, Sg, teaser and small ads scene niats readers etc were planted in the local papers. Two fulll co-op pages with title headings and large displa)^ ads were secured. , . , Coffey covered the town and suburbs with^ all sizes of paper and cards and trailers wer^ run we 1 in advance in both the local houses For lobby attention, stills, one and six-sheeti were displayed with other art. • „ ^ 1 Through the cooperation of the Canno, Aviation Corpoi;ation, bomber trainers, para, Suites, propelkrl bombs and shells were prQ moted for a lobby aircraft display. While to Sr her attention, a local %er covered the are in a Piper Cub painted plane m box car letter, on the sides and underneath wings witii cop reading "See MGM's Great 'Thirty Seconc OvS Tokyo." On the rudder of the plaii "Buv War Bonds" was printed. 1 Coffey also received space m the papt and widespread interest on the contest M most thrilHng 30 seconds". Free tickets we Awarded entries and these ^ere mailed to tl MGM home office for entry m the War Stan "^Numerourwindow displays were promote^ the theatre's large nmiling list was cover with special programs and heralds and ^ounceEs were%osted on bulletin boards i six graded schools, etc. ; Citizens Help Put Oyer "Hollywood Canteen" Stunt When the USO Canteen in Mil^^4aukee announced a Hollywood Canteen Night coincident with the opening of "Hollywood Canteen at the Warner theatre in that fy, Harry MacDonald let it be known that the 1945th attendS G-I. (designated Uncle Sam's Man of the Year) would be awarded a free long-distance call to Joan Leslie in Hollywood, more than twenty Milwaukeeans who read about the plan came forth and personally offered to pay for * So' ^riocdcitizens were allowed to foot the '^^^^rpSy of advance publicity and ballyhoo, the Hollywood Canteen Nift was a highIv successful affair. A specially baked HoliLood Canteen" inscribed cake was the centerpiece on the dining table, and after the dinner' party the gang went to the Warner theatre to see the picture. Fitzsimmons Concentrates^^ On Juveniles for "Wilson" In advance of "Wilson" at the Schine Medir^a theatre, Medina, Ohio, Sam Fitzsimmons contacted the superintendent of f^-h and offered a special student admission price to the show. All school principals in the conZ receded a special letter urging them to Jake Advantage of the student price and C ay followed this up by a personal call on all the principals promoting the plan. The result was Lt every school in the county was represented and it was necessary to run another show to accommodate all the children. Counter cards were used and distributed in and out of town, a cooperative newspaper camnaien set up, scene cuts planted, and a special SriafheJad was mailed to the rural routes and the balance distributed m town. Saunders Sells Merchant On "Boys" Co-op Page Sponsored by Brock & Stevens, Bridgeport s leading bakery, was the full cooperative ad page promoid by Matt Saunders for his engagemen of "Something for the Boys" at Loew s Poll theatre. The page carried four large cuts of show girls in the picture with copy reading "Something for the Boys and, of course. Something for everyone, the pin-up product of every home for better health," etc. . Playdates«and picture copy were also included in the ad, which ran in the evenmg paper the day prior to the opening of_ the picture and in the morning paper on opening day. CViarninsky Sells Stage and Picture Through Radio To sell his date of "Song of the Range" j the personal appearance on stage WaJc^J and White, the stars m the pictuer, Lo^ i CharnTnsky at the Capitol, Dallas, landed g^ publicity in the papers and arranged for boys to broadcast four times on differentj tions. For his front, Lome used lifesize blow of the lads plugging their appearance. , Paper towels were imprinted picture , stage show copy, imprinted blotters distnb^ and through a tieup with a local candy st bags were imprinted with cuts of stars. ^ 1 Hebscher Holds Cartoon Show A cartoon and western matinee was held on "Boxing Day" recently by Sam Hebscher at the Nola theatre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Sam promoted several .cases of Pepsi-Cola, which were given away in six-bottle cartons to the lucky winners as an added inducement. Students Color Stencil on i,, "Tall in the Saddle" For juvenile attention, Les V. Campbe, the Strind theatre. Trail, B. C, on his d^ "Tall in the Saddle" drew a stencil of a piQ of a cowboy range, with cactus etc had ] of them mimeographed and distributed the teachers for coloring by the chi Mren. teachers started the kids off on the job and were completed at home, so that the mej was brought before parents. Sixteen p were awarded to the children turnmg ir best coloring job. Taylor Promotes Blackout Rules Charles B. Taylor at Shea's in Buffalo an institutional ad with ^opy reading : _ let the "brown out" fool you. Outside ligV, Shea Theatres will be low to help save, tricity, but INSIDE our shows are _b colorful, the spirit ^high and the entertain: rosy and cheerful." MOTION PICTURE HERALD. FEBRUARY 2i