XXVII.
BOOSTING YOUR TRADE WITH A POPULAR PLAYER
Motion pictures are to-day a force to be reckoned with, and the national advertiser can not do better than to take advantage of the weaknesses of the fans, who are enrolled from all walks of life, and no one, from the boy in short pants to the old man of seventy, is immune. When they get the motion-picture bug badly—and the majority succumb—their interest in a photoplay only really commences when they view it at their pet theater. They next turn to their encyclopedia—the latest issue of their favorite photoplay publication—in which they will probably find the story of the play and some dope on the producing of it. By the time they are through they are sure to know the photoplay from A to Z.
The star player is a greater magnet than the play. The fans literally pester the lives out of their screen idols via Uncle Sam’s mails, and generally implore their pet magazine to publish an interview. Practically anything linked with a motion-picture star is sure to find a ready response. You can not secure a popular photoplayer to appear in a thinly disguised advertising film, so the next best thing you can do is to work along lines which other advertisers have successfully tried out. Here follow some examples.
Pearl White, of “Exploits of Elaine” fame, was shown in an ad. which appeared in the Motion Picture Magazine, wearing Vantine’s Panama hat.
Mary Pickford owns a Maxwell Cabriolet, so the manufacturers secured a snapshot of her boarding her car. The photograph was used in a New York Morning Telegraph ad. to back up the following argument: “This car is the easiest car in the world for a woman to drive. That is why Mary Pickford selected it.”
A photograph of Lillian Walker in a smiling pose accompanied an ad. in the Motion Picture Magazine for Carmen Complexion Powder. This was the significant argument: “One that adds every charm to your complexion, as well as Lillian Walker’s, without seeming artificial.”
Marguerite Snow supplied the following testimonial for Sempre Giovine: “I am pleased to attest to the merits of your skin preparation, Sempre Giovine, conscientiously, having found it a necessary adjunct to my toilet table. Its use after a day out in all kinds of weather leaves the skin in a velvety condition.” This supplied the “pep” to a full-page announcement in the Photoplay Magazine.
Mary Charleston permitted her name to be used in connection with Dr. Bellin’s Wonderstein for a New York Morning Telegraph ad.
The Richardson Silk played up Mary Fuller prominently in a displayed advertisement which graced the columns of the Motion Picture Magazine. “Free: Mary Fuller’s Own Pillow” was the headline. Below the cut of the pillow appeared Miss Fuller’s testimonial: “I prefer this design to any I have seen.”
The Red Cross Shoe manufacturers started off their full-page ad. in the Photoplay Magazine as follows: “Are You Making the Mistake Ruth Stonehouse Did?” “I had always heard so much about the comfort of your shoes that I did not realize how very stylish the different models were,” ran her quoted letter.