Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, October 8, 1949 9 Sells Industry to Sell Seats AFTER A DAY OF THIS BET YOU'D LOVE A MOVIE TONIGHT! YOU MISS A LOT ...when YO" ' trip to the MOVIES! Avoid parking worries use the Baltimore transit street cars and buses when you go to the MOVIES! AFTER A DAY OF THIS TAKE YOUR DATE ON A DOUBLE DATE: With... Ban and Betty Bob and Lucille Rwmie and Virginia J .WHAFS ESTHER WILLIAMS ^ TO 00 WITH YOUR NEXT PAY BOOST? HITTING STRAIGHT FOR THE BACKBONE of theatre attendance is the campaign put on by Baltimore exhibitors aimed at increasing movie going by selling movies in general to the public. Top panel shows a general appeal ad used in cars and busses. Below it is a street car and bus card run for free by transportation lines. Lower left is an ad designed to put the idea in Mother's head, who after all puts the ideas in Father's. Right top is ammunition for Junior and his Miss, and right bottom hits right at . . . well you guess. Baltimore exhibitors' business-boosting program, built around the idea that hy boosting movies as an institution business at the boxoffice will in turn be boosted, swept through its fifth successful week Thursday with ever}' indication that it would run for months to come as the first striking example of what showmen could do for themselves by cooperating. The campaign, which is based on paid advertising and free space, is directed at hammering home to the public that movies offer a wealth of direct benefits to the audience — Relaxation, Recreation, Stimulation, Information, and pleasant surroundings for children as well as grownups. Exhibitor Financed It is financed entirely by exhibitors and the contributions present almost a united front which crosses affiliated and non-affiliated battle lines. Of 126 theares in the Baltimore area, 115 are footing the bill. "It is the first time in local history that independents, circuits and downitown houses have united in a city-wide cooperative effort," Joe Walderman, exhibitor who fathered the plan, said. '"The program involves a minimum expenditure of $20,000." The program, which is planned by the Azrael Advertising Agency for the contributing exhibitors, was originally endorsed by the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Maryland after Walderman had presented it to them. But it caught on rapidly and non-members joined the campaign with their contributions. The Baltimore exhibitors contend that running a movie house is no longer a matter of selling an individual picture. Today, they say, the question that a customer asks himself is not, "What picture shall I see," but instead : "Shall we go to the movies, or the prize fight, or a dance, or shall we take a drive in the car or call on friends, or go down to the corner tavern and look at television?" To Get Them Going "So," ^^'alderman points out, "we are not selling a particular picture or specific theatre. We are showing the people why thej' should go to the movies. We are trying to merchandise and stimulate the movie-going habit, just as the Florists' Association sells the idea of sending flowers." The campaign involves separate sub-campaigns to attract each of what its sponsors consider the backbone of theatre attendance. These are the housewife, dating couples, the working man and children. (See illustration at right). The campaign includes half-page newspaper ads which run twice weekly plus many smaller spaces which tie the campaign together. In addition it runs to local radio time with cooperative announcements and with street car cards, billboards, strips, store posters and other media. free Space By tieups with taxis, local restaurants and transportation companies, the campaign actually is getting approximately as much free as paid lineage. The Azrael Agency works out the ads in association with a committee which consists of Chairman Walderman, Elmer Xolte, Lauritz Garnan, Leon Back, Louis Gaertner, I. N. Rappaport, William Allen, L. E. Green, Jack Wittle, Oscar Coblentz. Exhibitors who are interested in further details may write Walderman at the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Maryland, 531, N. Howard St., Baltimore, Md. Although the plan originated several months ago when the box-office was sagging, the support for the campaign is as strong now, even with better business. Walderman puts this down to a keener exhibitor realization of the facts. "The local exhibitors realize that the lush period of the past seven years is over.'" he declared. "That it takes more than simply listing attractions to do enough business to meet 1949 costs. It takes team work on the part of all exhibitors to revive the movie-going habit and it takes keen cooperative thinking instead of individual competition."