Moving Picture World (Jan-Feb 1927)

444 MOVING PICTURE WORLD February 5, 1927 Wrote a Special Invitation for Each Patron To introduce these two reel Universal comedies, Robert Bender, of the Columbia Theatre, offered prizes for the best cars — meaning the worst — and he got a parade that included the cream of the collegiate wrecks. Novel Treasure Hunt For The Black Pirate Pat McGee, of the Criterion Theatre, Oklahoma City, worked a new style Treasure Hunt for The Black Pirate, which gives plenty of returns to the cooperating newspaper and merchants. Twenty-three merchants came into the stunt, supplying the prizes and doing their share of the advertising, using their regular spaces and not a special cooperative page. The paper printed 23 boxes and somewhere in the advertisement of each merchant was a number to correspond with one of these boxes. The hunter had to fill in each box with the name of a merchant. There was also a phrase to be filled in, and the cue to the missing words was to be found in the windows of the various merchants, necessitating a visit to the front of each store. Properly filled in, these words gave the location of the treasure chest. This was an actual chest on which was seated the Black Pirate in person. If the slips were completely and properly filled in, he issued a key which was good for a prize at one of the cooperating stores. Prizes were given to the holders of all correct slips. In another stunt a prize of $10 was given to the person who brought in the largest list of names of those who had been told of The Black Pirate. It is the old “ten names” stunt on a larger scale. More than 11,000 names were turned in, which went to fatten the mailing list when duplications had been eliminated. For Flaming Frontier Willis Grist, of the Galax Theatre, Birmingham, Ala., worked hard on The Flaming Frontier. He gave a special showing to which the invitations were personally written letters, each framed to make especial appeal to its recipient. ' As a result the picture received many times the usual amount of advertising in the schools, civic clubs and other opinionforming organizations. It was not an easy job, but it was highly profitable. Wins Ad Contracts With Two Letters Around Christmas Louis C. Shimon, of the Uptown Theatre, Sheboygan, Wis., put out two letters marking the holidaj^. One was sent to advertisers already in the house program, the other to those he desired to get in. He writes that he got results from both. The advertisers were appreciative of his thoughtfulness and the prospects sat up and took notice, a couple of contracts coming in that were not otherwise solicited. It’s just a friendly gesture, but it paid a big return. Most persons appreciate the little courtesies that go to make life pleasant. Mr. Shimon also sends in some small easel signs, lithographed on tin. A glove manufacturer gave him about 80 of these. Shimon pasted paper over the glove advertisement and finds it easy to place about 75 in store windows with a permanent announce ment of the Uptown. You will often find it possible to get good backing material from old tin signs, but be careful in pasting down your paper. The paper goes down wet and when it shrinks in drying, it is apt to pull the enamel off the tin. A good coat of shellac would be the best adhesive to use for first coat. After that paper can be used to ^verpaste changes in the announcement. Came Easy Publicity on The Quarterback came easily to Eddie Collins of the Queen Theatre, Galveston. He put up a two weeks’ pass for the first player to score in the High School game the opening day of the picture and the newspapers did the rest. A special showing, a week in advance, to school teachers and officials got a window card in every classroom in the public school S3rstem, and the local team were guests the last night of the run. A WINDOW AND A WAGON FOR UPSTAGE AT THE TEMPLE THEATRE, BIRMINGHAM, ALA. The window was in a fashionable store and the panel was nicely displayed by a pair of ornamental flippers, getting the stills into a location where the usual window card would have been refused. The perambulator is merely the billing car with a cutout from the lithograph to get attention. Both ideas helped the run.