Moving Picture News (Jan-Dec 1911)

8 THE MOVING PICTURE NEWS ADVERTISING WITH MOVING PICTURES. By A. L. Barrett WE hear of many possibilities for the moving pictures, that they will be the educators of the future, we know that they are being used in religious work, we see them in travelogues, and it seems to be dawning on some people that there are other uses for them, but as yet they do not seem to have occurred to the heads of the various industries as an advertising medium. No other amusement seems to have such a strong hold on the popular fancy as the ■moving pictures. Their audience is immense, the theaters, and ■during the warm weather, the open-air shows, being generally well tilled, lines of people freciuently waiting patiently for their turn, and when, among the pictured stories of the day, one is shown which portrays hatmaking in Java for instance, the sardine industry, or anything of a like nature, they receive just as cordial a welcome as those which are merely amusing. The principal methods of advertising a food product, or anything else, is by filling the billboards with a description of its virtues, with pictures representing the article itself or of some individual smirking with satisfaction at his anticipated feast ; also the distribution of advertising matter, which, for various reasons, does not, in many cases, reach the hands or those it is intended for; sometimes the distribution of expensive little samples of the product advertised, and through the various magazines. Occasionally, but this is very seldom, the thought strikes some enterprising individual that people would be interested in pictures showing just how a given food was manufactured and he therefore has stereopticon views prepared whch give an accurate representation of the buildings, equipment, work people and methods employed by this particular manufacturer. In such an event, pictures of the various departments are shown with heaps of the vegetables or fruits, for instance, depicted in the most tempting and realistic manner, everything spotless, immaculately clean utensils awaiting them, and the peeling, cutting, slicing mixing, and all the details of preparation being done by irreproachable cooks and their bands of assistants, male and female. This method creates a longer and more favorable impression than is possible with any amount o! advertising by means of bill posting, signboards, distribution of advertising matter, or the magazine advertisements, for people are naturally far more interested in seeing the actual process of manufacture of the food they eat than any number of pictures or descriptions of the finished product. TJie stereopticons appeal to nearly everyone for they represent actual facts very vividly, and they have always been popular at entertainments. It seems strange, therefore, that manufacturers should have so completely overlooked them as advertising mediums, for in comparison to their value, they have been practically ignored. Almost everyone will go to see stereopticon views, no matter what the subject, but the pictures showing various industries are always sure of a warm welcome and, if used for advertising purposes, the majority in any community. Such an advertising campaign would certainly have a more permanent effect on the minds of a community than any other method, for the stereopticon pictures appeal to its intelligence and interest and people go to see them for instruction as well as entertainment whereas the pictures of descriptive matter on a billboard or in a magazine will only reach the passerby or reader in a very casual manner. Stereopticons, however, have their limitations, for they can only picture the appearance of a food in a certain stage, and the lecturer tells the audience just l ew it has been brought to this condition; he then puts on another slide which shows the food in a more advanced stage of preparation, then a little more lecture and another picture is shown. But although this is very interesting, and was highly satisfactory until the invention of moving pictures, we do not see the cooks actually measuring, mixing, stirring, boiling, and skimming, supposing it to be soups, catsups, jams, sauces, etc., being pictured. The moving pictures have, as it were, endowed the stereopticon with life, and while witnessing the ectual process of the manufacture of jams, soups, sauces, catsups, canning of fruits, vegetables, meats, fish and other products, the audience becomes deeply interested in it and the step from this interest to the purchase of the goods is but a short one. Apropos of the expose last winter of the rotten egg industry, any iirm could reinstate itself in the public favor by having a set of films made which would depict the manner in which the cakes and pies are manufactured. There is always considerable skepticism concerning the methods of preparing any article of food in which eg.gs are used, the pies, for instance, baked at a pie factory, and the expose of the rotten egg industry has confirmed people in their suspicions on this particular point. One exhibition by any reputable firm of its methods of preparing pies and cakes would bring it more into public favor than any amount of advertising showing the cake or pie already cooked. The public, being on the alert for the "rots and spots'' and waiting for the strainer which debars the enterprising embryo chicken from entering into partnership with cake or pies, anxiously awaiting the elevated noses of the various cooks who were preparing the eggs for the part they were to play in the said cake or pie, and failing to see any of this, would depart with a very exalted opinion of Grandmother's Old-fashioned Cake Company or Mothers' Homemade Pie Association. If, in addition to these pictures, such a company would invite the public to visit the bakeshops, its prestige would be forever established and its fortunes assured beyond question: (To be continued.) THE EAST AND THE "WEST Miss Tokie Takayi, as O San of Tokio in the Thanhouser production of "The East and the West," portrays, amidst an atmosphere wholly Japanese, the character of a dancer from the land of the rising sun, with such finesse that one is moved to a delectable enthusiasm. The action takes place in both the East and the West, but the quaintness of Japanese scenery and the peculiarity of their customs makes that portion of the picture the most interesting although the settings in the West are elaborate and real. Miss Takayi comes from Tokio. She supervised a large part of the production and lent a considerable portion of her personal property and also had property especially imported for this presentation. One . seeing the picture would really come to the conclusion that a greater part of it was taken in Japan. Miss Tokie Takayi, herself, is a beautiful little Japanese lady possessing all the captivating traits of her nationality. She is dainty, chic, elusive, kittenish and combines with these a lithe and buoyant spirit. She fairly sparkles on the screen and injects her audience with her liveliness of spirit. MIRROR SCREENS. We learn on good authority that Frank Manning, traveling for the Mirror Screen has sold a screen to H. A. Levey, Comic Theatre, 102 Third avenue, and one to iManager Kauffman, Comedy Theatre, 46 East Fourteenth street, both New York City. These were sold last week, making /our hundred mirror screens installed in the last eight months. A pretty good showing, we think, and a good example of the fact that the exhibitors are awakening to their responsibilities and the value of a good screen.