- About The Movie
- Campaigns
June 22, 1956
Tag Line: "Here comes the Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Show!"
In 1956, Song of the South was re-released for the first time, this time by Buena Vista Entertainment. It's interesting to note the sharp contrast between the 1946 campaign depicting live-action as the main focus compared to this campaign, where only Uncle Remus and his characters are depicted. This clearly shows where the popularity of the film lay—not so much in the live action, but rather in Uncle Remus and his stories.
It's also interesting to note the movie tie-ins with Disneyland and the Mickey Mouse Club, both of which debuted close to this time as well. There is a lot of merchandise from this time period, and there was even a special Scotch Tape promotion featuring Brer Rabbit (more information below).
Reprinted from the 1956 Campaign Book:
Brer Rabbit's Contest will promote "Song of the South" nationally and at your local level. Here's how...
8,000,000 Scotch Tape Dispensers, prominently featuring a picture-plugging Contest Folder, will be distributed in nearly every local retail outlet—supermarkets, grocery stores, variety stores and cigar, candy, drug and stationery stores. A Contest Folder is attached to each roll, so the buyer gets it automatically.
15,000 Special Counter Displays in Full Color, at neighborhood stores, each stocked with rolls of Scotch Tape, will plug the picture in small retail outlets across the country.
30,000 Floor Stand Display Units in Full Color for Major Retail Outlets. Big attention-getters, each one is large enough to hold 216 Scotch Tape Rolls with Contest Folders attached. 30,000 will be distributed in prominent locations in supermarkets, throughout the nation, to gain a super audience for the contest and the picture.
Full Color Ads in Sunday Comic Supplements. Attractive colored Ads, half-page in size, will penetrate more than 20,000,000 homes in 73 major markets. They will appear in Metro Comics (circulation about 15,000,000) and in the Independent Comic Group (circulation about 7,000,000).
National Magazine Ad Campaign. Full Color, half page Ads, sparked for maximum readership attention in top circulation magazines such as LOOK, LIFE, COLLIER'S and THIS WEEK. Ads will be read by more than 90,000,000 people across the country and every Ad will plug Brer Rabbit's contest and "'Song of The South' coming to your local theatre soon."
Back Page Full Color Ads in 11 Dell Comics. The 11,000,000 paid circulation of the Dell Group of 11 best selling Comic Books will be utilized for unprecedented mass attention with striking back-page Ads in full-color spotlighting the facets of this big three-way promotion.The 11 comics are: Roy Rogers, New Funnies, Tom & Jerry, Mickey Mouse, Looney Tunes, Lone Ranger, Song of the South, Walt Disney, Tarzan, Gene Autry, Little Lulu.
ABC-TV Network Coverage Will Blanket Millions of Homes from Coast to Coast. Minnesota Mining, a sponsor of the highest rated daytime TV show, Walt Disney's "The Mickey Mouse Club," will deliver an audience of 15,000,000 for five weeks: March 27, April 5, 12, 19, 26. This show has already proved itself to be the greatest selling force in history for juvenile movies!
Window Streamers and Display Cards. Colorful window streamers and display cards in several different sizes, by the tens of thousands, will pepper retail outlets in every local community so that all available sources will be tapped for saturation coverage.
