Chapter 28 A Cigarette Girl Changes An Expression And Increases Her Business
“Cigars, cigarettes, and almonds” stops hotel guests. “Very hot chestnuts” clicks on Seventh Avenue and in Advertising Age. The “perambulating sandwich.” Selling combs on Sixth Avenue.
ONE DAY WE WERE asked by the Hotels Statler chain to devise a new expression for its cigarette girls to use. It seemed, after some study on the subject, that “Cigars and cigarettes” failed to rouse people and crash through their cloud of thoughts, dream, or conversations, as they sat in the restaurant. People living next to a railroad soon fail to hear the train whistle. People in a hotel concentrate so much on their fining, conversation, or dancing that they fail to hear or see the little girl with her cigars and cigarettes. Just to show you the power of changing a statement around every so slightly, and gaining added results, we had the young lady in the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City, as a test, say: “YOUR CHOICE of cigars and cigarettes.” She would “Say It With Flowers” by holding a package of cigarettes in full view of the people sitting at their tables. We also tried another simple “attention - getter” and “daze - crasher”: “Cigars, cigarettes, and almonds .” Simple changes – but sales increased, because the young ladies received “renewed” attention with this new sales story that penetrated the haze! There was a humorous twist to this last sentence, at least so I am told. It seems that up to twelve o’clock at night the girls would use the statement all right, but after twelve they would let down somewhat and say: “Cigars, cigarettes, and al- monds”! And by three o-clock they were so tired that they would simply mutter: “Nuts and butts – nuts and butts !”
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