Publix Opinion (Aug 17, 1929)

School Slump PUBLIX OPINION, WEEK OF AUGUST 17x, 1929 [AT SCHOOL SLUMP HARD! ity and Advertising for Publix the following campaign which is ict for PARAMOUNT MONTH September School slump. sg 8 Ja s are “vane that ba EF % FSSSaS Se Sass essa ee aeaeeeeseeseseeneesy| SCHOOL | SLUMP GAGS! By JEAN FINLEY Home Office Advertising Dept. ‘ ‘ =aeeee= 2 = = = = = = = AMAA SCHOOL ~ OPENING SLUMP. REMEDY By Ben Serkowich (Editor, Publix Opinion) {NULL AOSTA A ERA the Combatting box-office | slump due to school re-opening | is not a problem of getting ju-| | | | venile admissions. Primarily it| | change that. oes is a problem of getting adults. | | Parents insist on their young-| sters getting properly started| off to school, and no salesman | ship can nor should attempt to! | parents, themselves. With the re-opening of schools | *. | will lure the adults, and selling it} and colleges in the latter part of in the box office receipts of every | ltheatre. It will be noticed that matinee business drops and that night business picks up slightly. It is also a known fact that the days at the beginning of the week suffer because of the inability of parents to take the children to the theatre or to leave home without them. Effective measures to combat the situation should be started early in the month and carried through to a successful conclusion. 1, Football teams of the ischools and colleges will soon ibe in practice. All Publix managers bog start immediately to make | their theatre the principal factor jin boosting the local teams. A ; school night should be established lwhen the students will know that ; they will meet their friends at the , theatre. 2. Glee clubs provide another baberee of revenue. The schools inot only seek pnblicity but are very pround of their organizations and will turn out to applaud the efforts of their own members. 8. Pictures that carry an ap to the student body, should be aided through the distribution of heralds and throw-aways to the students on the campus : 4. FEassay contsts based upon | some particular phase of a picture will oftimes gain the ear of the edutator and provide an entrance into the school room that would otherwise be barred, 5. Special after school nees with a starting time that would allow the attend after school is out should be advertised along with the prices made to the pupils. mati| The point of attack is upon the| The remedy | is in providing entertainment that} August and the beginning of Sep| 12 convincingly alluring language.| tember, a marked change is found | During the school-vacation sum-| mer months, the kids have been} yelling their parents to distrac-| tion. When gchool reopens ‘par-} ents sigh with relief, and need a| vacation. Your cue is to provide that vacation in the nick of time, | which is. the day that school reopens. The line: “NOW Parents Are Vacationing At The Paramount Theatre while the kids are | working in school!’ jis a honey, money-getting line. Use it at the} top of your ads, on trailers, pos-| ters and'on a travelling 2-faced | 24-sheet mounted on a truck with} a ballyhoo that tours the residen-| tiat districts. Sell that idea in} newspapers, and make the second} thought: ““fTo provide that vaca| tion for parents, we have by tre-| mendous effort, obtained ‘THE}| GREENE MURDER CASE’ and| ‘THE DANCE OF LIFE’ as the) first two giant attractions in SEPTEMBER.” Get these, two sen-| tences T-H-O-R-O-L-Y saturated} into your community by August 26 and you'll have delivered a 90%} wallop against your enemy-slump. Read the back files of PUBLIX| OPINION for all the gags in the} press agents barrel, and adapt any} that fit. i | SAINTE AAA iA §—ELECTION TIE-UPS SLUMP ANTIDOTES By Lou Goldbérg Brooklyn-Paramount Theatre ACR HAHNHALY LAE NA | 1—WORLDS SERIES student jbody to| 6. During the rush season at | the schools and colleges the soro rities and fraternities attend the theatre in a body with their pled ges. This business should be sew ed up now. 7. The prominen mes and athletic even t football ts of each | district will of course be included | the Paramount Sound News. These should be heavi to the student bodies of the respective institutions. 8. Local school portant games play will supply a crowded house films of the even run on your screen, in ly advertised | s who have im| ed out of town, | if ts are taken and } these should be made through the co-operation of | a local photographer possible. 9. Shoppers provide revenue. don’t And ‘be home with th attend your Biturn home before the close of ‘the school. This fact should be driven home to the parent who ‘ would otherwise be kept at home | vend and away from the theatre. —— —— matinees always | ‘forget, the parent who wishes to} e child can always | first matinee and re-| wherever Put a huge score board on your | marquee and tie in with your! big paper to give the latest re-| turns. The newspaper is usual| ly on a side street and will be) glad to get your location, and tell about it and your attraction. A contest on the sports page as | to the teams who will win their | respective league leaderships. | Who will win the series? Who} the batteries will be on opening | day? Invite the home team to} your show, under the auspices | of the newspaper. A pass to} the ones who guess who will hit} the first home run in the world series. Make them mention your feature picture in all copy. 2—FALL STYLE SHOW A—A fall style show with the big department store. 3—FALL RADIO SHOW A—AL the radio manufacturers are out with their new models. Foyers, mezzanine and lobbys for a radio show with newspaper copy as per Publix Opinion back file. 4—FOOTBALL TIH-UP A—Direct appeals can be placed on the imprint space of football schedules. B-+A contest in local paper to guess who the local coach will select for his first team with passes to see your picture as the reward. met O—A contest to guess what the seore will be each week. High school pupils are interested in 9—BARGAIN SHOWS what their local team is Soins | and this gives you an excellent! opportunity of sniping your at-| traction name into live news. © | D—Why not invite the high} school or college first team to see the show? E—The news reels will be showing footbal} shots at this time) of the year. Be sure and fea-| ture any important local football shots in all your advertis-| ing and where the occasion per| mits, tell them that you will) have first showings of the important games first. 5—GLEE CLUBS AND SCHOOL ORCHESTRA 7a A—Will be organizing at this | time of the year. Book them in for an off show. The same may be possible for the college or high school band. | B—Did you ever invite the local) glee clubs at the schools to participate in your community organ singing? You may be able} t to arrange to have your organist as faenlty adviser to this group! 1OLLEGE OR HIGH SCHOOL NIGHTS A—It may be advisable to at-| tract the school element by set-| ting aside a different night of| the week to represent each} school. If possible permit your) feature organist to play that) school’s class songs. | 7—MOTHERS A—yYour copy should call atten-| tion to the fact that your second | afternoon show comes at a time} when it,is possible for her to. take the children (if this is so).| In towns where there is no re-| striction against unaccompanied children let them know -that) they can still see the complete | show AFTER school. A—There are many of these tie-ups possible at this time of | the year. In cities whefe they) are holding municipal and state | elections many contests suggest) themselves. These contests give | you an excellent opportunity of placing your screen attraction | before the public. ; B—It may be possible to work; the ald straw vote poll. Using} your lobby as the place to cast! votes. Newspapers find these| straw vote polls an excellent | method of forecasting the com-}| ing election. } c—A contest may be arranged | to guess the plurality of each | candidate giving as prizes tick-| ets to see your screen attraction | BE SURE TO AVOID TAKING SIDES AT ELECTION TIME. A—This is the time to empha-} size all your bargain shows, especially on Saturday and .Sun-| days when the mothers are more} apt to take the children. A woman’s attraction for a bar-| gain is proverbial and should be} featured to be fully capitalized | upon, In towns where there are | no restrictions against unaccom| panied children it is advisable to run a trailer on the screen explaining to the mothers that! your theatre makes it a practise | to take wnusual care of the | children attending these bargain shows. 1O0—CHILDREN’S MATINEES A—A whole bag of tricks is available on this subject. In| Chicago at the Norshore theatre | David Lipton had wonderful results with a Saturday bargain kiddie show. Candy was promoted from a large manufacturer and given to the children. Every Saturday the kids just flocked for this extra handout. Other days balloons,’ caps, etc., were given to the youngsters.| The kids are great bets for your) feature organist—-why not organize a singing club for them, giving membership ecards and buttons. Hundreds of things have been done to. stimulate these children matinees and, they can all be worked and this is the time of the year to work them. 1L1—LOBBYS A—Should be cleaned up. All posters and decorative work from the Art Department should This fact always the |for the second | which begins at a time when all illustrate:the Autumn spirit. 2—WANT ADS A—The want ad departments of the newspapers are wide open at this time. They are anxious to attract the summerites to their want ad columns again, There are a dozen of these stunts available in back issues of PUBLIX OPINION. 13—APARTMENT HUNTERS A—Most leases are usually dated as of October 1. Perhaps your paper will go for a missing word contest in the real estate section. Don’t forget that the wonien will be looking at these columns during the month of September and before and that it is a highly desirable page to get on. B—tIn so far as many moving vans will be on the streets during this priod you may be able to make a nice tie-up with the chief movers in town to banner their trucks. ARATE LN ANTI-SLUMP IN BUFFALO By C. B. TAYLOR (Publix-Shea Theatres) AAVUUSOURALL AUTEN AA HANNAN Shea Theatres always cater to the children. We have a special rate of 25 cents daily until 6 P.M. is played up day. With the return of ehildren to school, we plan to put over the thought that the thing to do after school is to go to one of the Shea theatres afternoon show, 1 S = = every the children can easily arrive in time for the overture after being dismissed from classes. We will hint that mothers should meet the children after school and take them to a Shea theatre for rest. relaxation and entertainment—in cool, clean, air-conditioned thea \tres—-at the special low price for kiddies. Plans have been made to post 500 attractive cards in all school districts where they will reach the eyes of children and parents alike. These ecards will stress the fact that the pupils can get to the second afternoon show after classes. They also urge parents to take the children to the early evening shows. Time schedules of these shows will be included in the type. | We also will hint at the big spe| cial children’s attractions being ar ranged. Through local radio station, we will broadeast propaganda selling our shows to parents as well as children with especial emphasis on Paramount’s “New Show World” productions and the wonders of the all-talking, all-dancing and allsinging screens. It is planned to conduct local eampaigns, playing up the Saturday matinees with their special pictures for children. We will work in co-operation with the schools and Mothers’ Clubs. We will also put over the fact that these community theatres begin their programs early enough during the week, so that the kiddies ean enjoy the show and still have: time to do their ‘home work.” We have submitted to the school department a propesition to have the master of ceremonies at Shea’s Buffalo put on programs at the school assemblies, focusing our efforts on the high schools. The M. Cc. will talk on the romance of the theatre, on the wonders of the talking screen, on the appeal of the wonderful music. Then he will put on a program, assisted by members of his stage band and the various Publix revues. The schools are very glad to get these novel entertainments for their assemblies. We plar to wriie letters to the principals of all the schools, giving facts on our shows and our schedules as well as mentioning some of the attractions of real value to school children.