Movie Age (1927)

SEPTEMBER 3, 1 927. PAGE 21 Exploitation Holds Over “The First Auto” at Detroit A campaign of exploitation worked out in Detroit under the supervision of Louis Brager of Warner Bros., resulted in a hold-over of “The First Auto” at the Madison Theatre where the picture had been doing turn-away business. The Detroit Automobile Dealers As¬ sociation and the Detroit Automobile Club co-operated with this Kunsky-Publix house in the framing of a big street ballyhoo in the form of a parade of old cars. Prizes were offered which brought out scores of entries claiming to have the first auto in Detroit. The affair was a traffic-stopper along the busiest districts of Woodward Avenue. Another clever stunt in Mr. Brager’s campaign was the far-reaching co-op¬ eration achieved from Lee and Cady, Michigan distributors for Cinco Cigars. Stills depicting a certain comedy gag framed about a smoker and his cigar were made the basis of a window card which was placed in 750 dealers’ win¬ dows throughout Detroit and its su¬ burbs. Ballyhoo For “Unknown” Draws at Logansport, Ind. An M-G-M exploiteer assisted Man¬ ager Hornback in putting over an ef¬ fective campaign for Metro-GoldwynMayer’s “The Unknown” during its showing at the Colonial Theatre, Lo¬ gansport, Indiana. A street ballyhoo was used as one of the features in the campaign. A masked man was placed upon the street with a small sign on front and back read¬ ing, “The Unknown.” He paraded through all the streets and visited all the important stores in the city. One thousand envelopes were printed in large type reading, “Don’t open if you can’t stand a shock.” On the in¬ side there was a small catch reader. The masked man distributed these the day before the opening, in the streets, the stores and passing automobiles. The lineogram puzzle was placed with one of the local newspapers and it ran the Saturday and the Sunday before the playdate. Tickets to .the theatre were offered as prizes. New Contest Idea Goes Big at the Bug, Chicago A new idea in bathing beauty con¬ tests has greatly helped the Bug, a small neighborhood picture theatre in Chi¬ cago. Clarence Wagner, owner and man¬ ager of the house, not to be outdone by “Miss America” contests in the larger downtown and neighborhood theatres, decided to pick his own beauties. He runs his beauty shows every Wednesday evening and gives both the contestants and the audience a worth-while treat. Responding contestants are usually numerous, about 30 in number in each contest. The girls are each given a pair of garters. Coupons are handed each member of the audience. If there are 30 girls in the contest, there are 60 “lucky” audience coupons. The 60 in luck are permitted to come up on the stage and take one of each girl’s garters — off the leg. Inside of every garter there is an¬ other lucky coupon, entitling the re¬ ceiver to a valuable prize. In addition, the three winning contestants, chosen by the audience’s applause, are awarded with desirable prizes. Despite the chances of the garter gag to become off color, the audiences are extremely orderly and refined. There have been no unfavorable in¬ stances, due to the presence of just as many women as men among the coupon holders upon the stage. Mr. Wagner claims that business at the Bug has been greatly improved as a result of these weekly contests. You can’t get within a block of the theatre on Wednesday nights. “Marines” Exploited With Outdoor Campaign in Ill. “Tell it to the Marines”, a MetroGoldwyn-Mayer production, was splen¬ didly promoted for its showing at the Rivoli Theatre, Monmouth, Ill., by man¬ ager J. Hoffman. An M-G-M exploit¬ eer assisted the manager in preparing the campaign. A big outdoor campaign was made for this picture, the billing consisting of several special twenty-four sheets, onehundred cards, fifty one-sheets, and twenty-five hundred heralds. One thousand card cut-outs were made up from a large mat of Lon Cha¬ ney, taken from the press book, and these were distributed in the various stores, offices and business houses in the city. With the aid of a three-sheet placed in the lobby of the theatre, a shadow box was created. A street ballyhoo was used in the form of a caterpillar tractor, which was obtained from the local road making concern. The tractor was driven through the business district for two hours the day before the opening and on the first day of the engagement. The machine was decorated with signs and banners advertising the picture. Four large oil paintings were used, being placed in the prominent locations throughout th business district. “Silk Stockings” and Van Raalte in Tie-up As a tie-up for “Silk Stockings,” a Universal production featuring Laura La Plante, arrangement has been made with the makers of Van Raalte hosiery to run newspaper advertisements and have window displays showing a connec¬ tion between the picture and the hosi¬ ery brand. Van Raalte is a very well known name in the silk hosiery industry and is recognized as a very excellent product. The exploitation will include window display material, counter cards and sets of photographs of Miss La Plante wear¬ ing Van Raalte hosiery. All dealers in this brand of hosiery will receive an idea sheet filled with suggestions for a special selling campaign to be built around Miss La Plante and her picture. Each salesman now on the road is car¬ rying a portfolio illustrating this tie-up material and when he sells a bill of goods, sells the advertising idea along with it. Newspaper ads running in size from two columns seven inches to half a page will appear throughout the country. The copy used in these ads will bear out the tie-up between “Silk Stockings” and the Van Raalte product. Ottawa, Kas., Puts Out Eight-page Magazine An effective weekly exploitation stunt is put over by the Crystal Theatre News, a house organ published by the Crystal Theatre at Ottawa, Kas. “The News” is a ten-page newspaper 11 inches by 8 % inches. The paper has three columns of news on each page. The news does not pertain strictly to the pictures, but covers local happenings, short squibs on national affairs, and has a continued story. The picture news in¬ forms the reader of coming attractions and highlights of the industry. The popularity of the publication is shown by the large amount of advertis¬ ing it carries from local merchants. The circulation is 3,000 weekly. Exhibitors— Send Us Your Exploitation Stunts