From a study of the motion-picture screens up and down the country, I have come to the conclusion that the average dealer does not take the trouble to get the fullest possible value out of his investment.

The majority of the announcements are merely plain business notices that simply bore the spectator who has the doubtful pleasure of sitting them through. They do, in fact, remind one only too strongly of the early days of newspaper advertising, when every advertiser thought it sufficient to have a formal announcement, unchanged from year in to year out. Few dealers now would think of spending good money in newspaper publicity in such a hackneyed and uninteresting fashion, because they are well aware that their ad. has to compete with many others, and it is only the attractively prepared ones that command a hearing.

The same methods must be applied to movie-screen advertising, if it is to be pulled out of the rut. There was a period when audiences were attracted by anything that resembled a picture. But these days are gone and buried, and the fans are only satisfied with a program of the best photoplays. This being the case, it goes without saying that they expect the same of the efforts to hold their attention during the reels. You can not really expect the ad. appeals to sink in otherwise.

Although you would dismiss the idea of having a short commercial film of your own made on the grounds of expense, much remains to be done in order to make slide advertising interesting to picture patrons rather than tiring them, as it does at present. It is going to cost you a little more money and effort, but your slide will be distinctive and will stand out above the rest. Your reward will be increased results.

Just bear in mind, too, that you haven’t merely got to have them look at your slide, but arouse them to action. This can be done by having prepared a serial story in picture form on similar lines to the comic supplements in the metropolitan Sunday journals. Have a series of slides made of it, showing one each day until the story is told. A few days before putting it on the screen of the local movie show, get the operator to throw on a rough slide to this effect: “Watch out for the story, ‘The Good Smith’s Meat Did for the White Family.’” This applies to a butcher, but a story can be written around every trade. There are firms who specialize in this kind of work. This plan has been attended with excellent results wherever tried out.

If, by ingenuity, you can make the picture on the slide move, so much the better. A London manufacturer boosted his bottled beer by showing the slide of a dog drinking his master’s beer when he was out of the room. Every time the dog lapped up the dinner stout, the audiences could not refrain from laughing heartily.

One way by which to get on good terms with the motion-picture exhibitor is to offer a liberal sample of your special line to the first hundred attending the performance on the morrow. This allows a direct appeal to be presented, and a Brooklyn grocery store has made good in drawing marked attention to their own brand of tea.

Another way to make the fans laugh is to have a witty verse written alongside an appropriate picture. I forget the actual verse of it, but a Brooklyn hand laundry draws the distinction between the ape days, when clean laundry was not necessary, and the vital importance to-day.

Slide advertising puts one over the press in securing the concentration of readers. Surely, then, it is worth while paying more attention to this excellent medium.