You've Seen the Movie, Now Read the Ad

In a popular movie, Frank Sinatra reaches hungrily for the object of his affections. Is it a bird? Is it an old flame? No, it is a can of Budweiser.

In other films, Jon Voight flashes a box of Colgate shaving cream, Jack Lemmon munches on Cracker Jack, and Starlet Linda Scott sports a tight T shirt with the name of Bell Helmets rippling across her chest. Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon, in their latest flick, wear hats made by Italy's G. Borsalino & Fratello Co. The film's title: Borsaliuo. Photographs from the movie are now being used to promote hats in shops.

Hollywood and Madison Avenue press agents have long schemed to have their products used as conspicuous props in films. The payola for the plugola usually goes to accommodating producers or property men.

Now the studios are getting into the act. Officials of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Kinney National Service, are offering to use or mention products in their movies if manufacturers will sign a contract to promote the film in their own advertising. The possibilities are unlimited. In an X-rated movie, a couple may pause in bed to munch a breakfast cereal; then ads for the movie could appear on the boxes at the breakfast table. Or a female star could extol the comfort of her Gucci shoes every time she crossed the room. In a letter to prospective tie-in advertisers, Warner officers note that "the personalities in our motion-picture exposure are known characters, not hard-sell people, such as these unknowns who are paid to make commercials."

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