Motion Picture News (Jul-Aug 1919)

107 (Exhibitors Service) 0: i V V Motion Picture N ezvs' One of till means used by Manager I,auric, of the Strand, Ottazva, ■ shows to get attention for his children's Harold Franklin W arm Against Misrepresentation in Publicity By Harold Managing Director, IT is hard to believe that anyone can over advertise, yet I have seen many do this very thing. I do not mean to infer that I am not in favor of advertising, for in fact I am an enthusiastic supporter of it. I favor it in every shape and form and the bigger the better. But I refer particularly to the theatre that exaggerates in its advertising. There is nothing so harmful as misleading the public. Unless advertising is based on truth and sincerity it does more harm than good. I am personally acquainted with an instance in which a certain theatre took almost a half page to advertise William S. Hart in a re-issue of an old picture, loiidly acclaiming it to be the latest production of this star. The management secured a telegram from Mr. Hart indorsing the supposedly "latest release," and this telegram was used by the enterprising exhibitor, in his advertisement, inserting the name of the re-issue in place of the picture Mr. Hart referred to. The result, when the fake was discovered, was that the manager really did more harm to himself than he imagined. Today his public cannot help but question any advertising that he may do. Mr. Hart personally gave me the facts in the above case. The exhibitor owes it to himself and to the industry at large not to misrepresent in his advertising. Today the motion picture is held in high esteem by the American public and no one has the right to endanger it by bogus advertising. Show me the ad of a theatre and I will show you the personality of the man who runs the house. It is the impression that we get from the advertisements that help to formulate the character of the theatre. An ad should look your public straight in the eye — and tell the truth. Your patrons invariably can sense insincerity. It is a sense that does not always work rapidly, but in the end misrepresentation fails whether it originates from the exhibitor, producer or distributor. Advertising which raises hopes that the show does not fulfill is worse than no advertising at all. Every ad should be a straight-from-the-shoulder talk to your audience to be. True advertising builds up prestige for your theatre when properly applied and the reverse is the rule when it is abused. Truth in publicity is as necessary for success to the theatre as good music, good service and good B. Franklin Shea's Hippodrome pictures. Unless advertising can create business of a more than temporary nature — advertising cannot succeed. This is best summed up in the words of Lincoln when he said, "You can fool part of the people all of the time and all of the people part of the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." Experience has shown that the theatre that lies in its advertising is spending money in digging a grave into which sooner or later it will fall. If only one patron discovers the fake he will pass the word around so fast that like a hurricane it will soon be known to the entire city. Truth in press notices should also be the aim of exhibitors. Superlative adjectives should be ' tabooed as much as possible. If the picture is a good one it will need few laudatory descriptive phrases and the fewer used the better. Highly colored press notices make tiresome reading, as the average theatregoer can soon decipher their exaggerated phraseology. Some exhibitors in showing re-issues in which stars, who a few years ago were not so well known, and who were featured together, loudly shout that this is the only production ever made in which both players appear. When patrons attracted by your announcement, see how old the picture is, it will be their last visit to your house. Truth in all theatre publicity is one of the necessities of success. Talley Springs Innovation T ALLEY'S, Los Angeles, sprung an innovation on Los Angeles with the showing of " Sunnyside," the latest Charlie Chaplin release. The picture was played simultaneously at the Broadway Theatre and Kinema for the first week, then during the second week the showing was confined to the Broadway, where it had to be extended to three weeks. The advertisement shown to the right is one of the quarter page ads used in the exploitation of the subject. L. A. Weingarten, director of publicity for Talley's Broadway Theatre, declares: " Working on the basis that advertising is the art of stating the truth attractively we have built a big business here. Chaplin is the biggest card in the city and when we sprung the dual showing Laurie Goes After Children with Special Shows in Mornings •"THE photographs to the left illustrates one of ■l the means used by Manager A. J. Laurie, of the Strand, Ottawa, to arouse interest among the children in a series of special morning matinees. There are three sides to the sign used on the ponycart. One side reads as shown in the photograph. The other reads, "Special Children's Show Tomorrow Morning at the Strand Theatre." The back read.s, "Children— Our Special Morning Shows for You Start Tomorrow Morfiing." In addition" to the cart as an advertising stunt, about' three hundred window cards were placed on the special children's performance, and about ten thousand circulars distributed. In newspaper space' five inches across two columns, Manager Laurie used the following talk tinder the display heading, "A Message to the Mothers of Ottawa :" "One of the most perplexing questions confronting YOU — the mother of children — when your LITTLE ONES cry 'Mother, take us to ' the Movies today,' is 'Where shall I send them?' We know that All Children love the Motion Pictures and You know that All Motion Pictures are not suitable for their immature minds. The Special Saturday Morning Show for Children at the STRAND will meet the long-felt need for Photoplays that are suitable for the LITTLE ONES. Starting next Saturday at 10 A. M. we will present the first of a series of shows consisting of subjects of special appeal to the children. 'Babes In the Woods,' a screen version of the Kiddies best beloved Fairy Tale, will be the feature offering. Charlie Chaplin will be there to add the necessary comedy relief and other subjects chosen for their appeal to the Kiddies, will be presented for the amusement of YOUR CHILDREN. Send them to the STRAND next Saturday morning — or better still— bring YOUR CHILDREN with you and watch them enjoy the Pictures to their heart's content at a Show specially arranged for their Own LITTLE SELVES." '* Enclosed money order for $2.00, for which enter my name for the MOTION PICTURE NEWS and start It as soon as you get this letter. I just received a copy from one of the film companies and think it is fine. If the price is more than I am sending, send the NEWS on and a bill for the rest. — Thomas R. Orr, Princess Theatre, Lineville, Ala. TAUYS& KINEMA BROADWAY THEATER 933 So.firoadiDay At Both Theater*, Starting Tomorrow M E A T C R Grand at SeUenth One of the quarter pages used an Talley's Los Angeles dual shoiving of " Sunny side " I