Sponsor (Nov 1946-Oct 1947)

New York Central commuters have been conditioned by broadcasting to breakfast at Nedick's in the terminal concourse radio sells A LOSS LEADER for Nedick's LOSS leaders have built grocery chains and department stores, so it's not too surprising that they've built an orange drink chain too. What takes the Nedick's tale off the beaten path is that they sell the breakfast that loses them a cent and a half with every sale via words that fly through the air. Back in 1934, the Coney Island-born drink-stand chain was about bankrupt. A group of businessmen, headed by Morris Wertheim. A, \\. Rosenthal, and R. T. Johnson, bought the business at bargain counter figures and plans were born to put the drink stands back in the black. Those plans started with shopping for a medium-sized agency that knew its way around radio. First one, then another, agency had the account. Together they added up to zero in sales increase. The money behind tin. new Nedick's trio wanted something done, and done quickly, otherwise Nedick's would continue a vv liitc elephant. Then Max Geller of the Weiss and Gcller agenc] landed the account and things began to happen. Bread had done it . . . milk had done it . . . candy had done it. So why not put Vitamin B-l in an orange drink? Nedick's agreed to take the chance, and a vitaminplus orange drink was born. Nedick's and B-l bowed onto the kilocycles with a modest spot campaign. Geller had a series of spots transcribed, and started placing them on New York stations at times when the sidewalk trade would hear them. Radio executives laughed knowingly when they heard the transcriptions — the B-l copy, Nedick's big selling point, was preceded by a cuckoo-clock sound effect. Geller was too busy holding up the sales curve to do any smiling — the sales had started to climb . . . and climb. The white-elephant orange drink business began to look like it was solid gold. Nedick executives, Weiss and Geller, Vitamin B-l , and radio teamed on a selling job that trebled the business between 1941 and 1946. With radio ringing cash registers, Rosenthal and Geller went shopping for another good air gimmick. They decided on the "Ten-Cent Breakfast," and agreed to offer it at a loss. Again came the razzing from the hucksters. But the customer who came to breakfast for a dime turned into the man who came for lunch and evening snacks of hot dogs and hamburgers. By this time, the Nedick's radio spiel was reaching listeners programwise. After making a counter survey of the people who plunked down their dimes at the drink stands, Geller and Nedick's decided on a public-service type of radio fare consisting mostly of sports, sportscasts. and newscasts. From April 1945 to September 1946, for instance, Nedick's used the CBS World News Roundup over WABC now WCBS), New York. This didn't prove to be the right business answer, and Nedick's cancelled. Currently, the story is principalis' sports. The B-l message and the Ten-Cent Breakfast are sold to audiences with college basketball games from Madison Square Garden over WHN. This series started during the 194 : season, covering more than 30 games This year, it is running from December 1946 to March 1947. The games are promoted heavily by Nedick's. Every Nedick stand has posters plugging the thrill-by-thrill account of the games, and a schedule giveaway is at the stands for the asking. Bill Stern sells B-l and hot dogs on WN'BC in a five-minute sportscast a< the board at 6:40-6:45 p.m. Stern, who started selling Nedick's last September 2. is an old Geller salesman, having worked on the old Twenty Grand show for the W. and G. account. Axton Fisher Tobacco, back in 1940. Ten-cent cigarettes, unlike ten-cent breakfasts, were dead Please turn to page 32 SPONSOR