Marketing SupplementSome may find the story hard...

Marketing Supplement

Some may find the story hard to swallow, but vitamins are being given at least some of the credit for a hit film.

In a speech last week to Los Angeles advertising executives, Perry Katz, Universal Pictures’ marketing chief, listed some of the reasons the studio’s summer film “The Flintstones” turned out to be such a hit.

One obvious reason was that the Hanna-Barbera cartoon is so recognizable. Another reason he cited was that kids “get their daily vitamin by eating its main character for breakfast,” referring to Fred Flintstone and the Flintstones vitamins that have been popular for years.

Still, Katz added, that isn’t enough.

“If being a vitamin was all it took to make a hit, then you’d be seeing ‘Chewable Gelcaps: The Movie’ in theaters everywhere,” he said.

Talking It Up

The O.J. Simpson murder case has led to some unexpected business plugs.

This past Thursday, KABC Channel 7 featured on its 11 p.m. news a segment describing how the Simpson case--in which the former football star is accused of killing his ex-wife and one of her friends--is the hot topic at the new Los Angeles talk radio station, KMPC.

Reporter Steven Noh, in introducing the segment, said he was “here at KMPC-AM 710, the new talk station,” according to a broadcast transcript.

Noh ended his report by again plugging the station, telling viewers he was “live at KMPC-AM 710 Talk, the new talk station studios,” according to the transcript.

Left unsaid in the broadcast: KMPC has just been bought and converted to talk radio format by media giant Capital Cities/ABC, which happens to also be the parent company of Channel 7.

Collectors Run to Daylight

Meanwhile, the Simpson memorabilia binge continues unabated.

Back in 1991, Salvino Inc. in Corona paid Simpson for the rights to sell 1,000 figurines personally signed by the onetime star running back.

Each figurine showed Simpson in a Buffalo Bills uniform standing behind the number 2,003, his rushing total in a record-setting 1973 season.

The $250 figurines weren’t such hot items when Salvino sold them to dealers, with about 400 still gathering dust on the shelves up until the Simpson murder case broke.

Company owner Wayne Salvino said that a check of dealers now shows the figurines have sold out, with some dealers getting as much as $800 for them.

Briefly . . .

A New York lawyer specializing in copyright infringement advertises himself as a “theft of idea attorney.” . . . Deere to the heart: An Iowa company is publishing trading cards picturing tractors and other farm equipment. . . . Czech it out: An investment fund called Czech-California Investment Co. has formed to solicit funds to invest in the Czech Republic even though there’s no apparent connection to the state; fund boosters say that the name was chosen because California represents opportunity to Czechs.