Batman’s TV Sweepstakes

[BatMite]

Does anyone have any info on the 1966 Batman’s TV Sweepstakes? Per the ad, “On Thursday, October 20, Batman will show the winning Bat-scenes on his television show.”

Did Adam West appear live during a commercial break to announce the winner? Does any OG remember this? I don’t believe it’s been documented in any Bat book.

[clavierankh]

I remember vaguely Adam presenting a sweepstakes at the end of an episode. I think the prize was a toy utility belt.

[Scott Sebring]

Good question! I've had these images kicking about from some auctions but never knew any details.

[High C]

I've heard that on Oct. 27, Burt gave a free trip to the Culver Studios Infirmary. Can anyone confirm?

'Ya gotta understand...'

Honestly, great find, Batmite.

[Ben Bentley]

I know i'd love to see this! The Lava soap commerical was unearthed eventually, so who knows, eh?!

So, I can't answer the question of when during the broadcast the winner was announced but, I can tell you that it was during "Yegg Foes In Gotham" which aired on Oct 30th, 1966. Last year I obtained another large batch of productions documents from the TV show and sure enough I have a sheet that pertains to the "Gleem" spot. It doesn't have the shoot date on it but it states that it was a Saturday shoot and that there was two separate spots filmed, one which was a 30-second version and one which was 60 seconds.

(Click to enlarge)

I don’t believe it’s been documented in any Bat book.

As for books referring to the promotion, in Bill Sciavally's book "BIllion Dollar Batman", he states:

"In February 1966, Compton Advertising Inc. handled a promotion for Procter & Gamble that on the surface seemed innocuous enough. The plan called for an announcement during the Batman program telling kids that they could get an autographed photo of Batman and Robin by simply mailing an empty Gleem toothpaste carton to "Batman, Bat Cave, NC". The agency had prepared 250k photos, with an option for another million. The New York advertising agency wanted a memorable address for the offer, so they checked the post office for a Gotham City, but found none. However, looking under "B" for "Bat" they found Bat Cave, NC, population 200. The agency also contacted the regional post office headquarters in Asheville, NC, who said they would be willing to cooperate.

In advance of the promotion, news offices around the country were flooded with a press release that read: "The Batman cometh - into your home via an offer of a personal photo". The news release predicted "one of the largest avalanches of photo requests in history". The news release prompted a mention of the gimmick in The New York Times, a newspaper read by Mrs. Walter Flinch. Mrs. Flinch, the granddaughter of the late Harley Procter, a founder of Procter & Gamble, lived in St. Louis, but also just happened to have a home in Bat Cave, NC. In fact, shoe owned the cave that gave the community its name. She also owned a lot of stock in Procter & Gamble. Mrs. Flinch promptly phoned Procter & Gamble to voice her displeasure with the stunt, which was sure to overwhelm the tiny Bat Cave post office. William Donaldson of Procter & Gamble's promotional staff said Mrs. Flinch "expressed considerable displeasure - I might even say she made her protest in spades. We felt it worthwhile to listen to her". As a result, the tv commercials, which were already prepared, were hastily revised so that viewers were now asked to send their empty toothpaste cartons to Maple Plain, MN. "That's a town of 754 souls 20 miles from Minneapolis", Donaldson said. "It has nothing to do with bats, but it is a mailing address used by a large custom service firm which handles such premium offers for P&G and other companies. They are geared for this operation".

The book is available on Amazon etc: https://www.amazon.com/Billion-Dollar-B ... 0615306411

[Jimmy L. 66]

I've heard that on Oct. 27, Burt gave a free trip to the Culver Studios Infirmary. Can anyone confirm?

'Ya gotta understand...'

Honestly, great find, Batmite.

Solid High C!!

[Scott Sebring]

I've heard that on Oct. 27, Burt gave a free trip to the Culver Studios Infirmary. Can anyone confirm?

Too soon. Too soon.

[Jim K, Bat fan]

Great stuff! To me, the autographed photo promotion mentioned in the book seems different than this contest - sounds like you had to mail in for the photo. This contest involves picking up a "Bat scene" at the store...or I guess getting one in that coupon flyer. Have any of these "Bat scenes" turned up?

[Mr. Glee]

Here's the "winning Bat-scene" as announced in the October 21 '66 edition of The Daily Oklahoman:

[Mr. Glee]

And here's the "winning Bat-scene" as seen in the October 28 '66 edition of the the same paper:

So it looks like the winnings scenes would be the ones that depicted the final scene of the prior evening's episode. For the record, these details come from full-page ads that don't mention Gleem or Prell - the sweepstakes in this area seem to have been connected with IGA stores.

[BatMite]

Wow...what incredible info. THANK YOU all.

[BatMite]

So, I can't answer the question of when during the broadcast the winner was announced but, I can tell you that it was during "Yegg Foes In Gotham" which aired on Oct 30th, 1966. Last year I obtained another large batch of productions documents from the TV show and sure enough I have a sheet that pertains to the "Gleem" spot. It doesn't have the shoot date on it but it states that it was a Saturday shoot and that there was two separate spots filmed, one which was a 30-second version and one which was 60 seconds.”

Are there any other tidbits like this, Ben, in the production documents—particularly involving commercials or other filmed oddities that fell outside the actual TV show?

I have some footage of Adam dressed as Batman in the Batmobile and being interviewed by some guy about I think driving safety. Anybody know what that was filmed for? It’s circa 1966 and in black & white.

[Ben Bentley]

So, I can't answer the question of when during the broadcast the winner was announced but, I can tell you that it was during "Yegg Foes In Gotham" which aired on Oct 30th, 1966. Last year I obtained another large batch of productions documents from the TV show and sure enough I have a sheet that pertains to the "Gleem" spot. It doesn't have the shoot date on it but it states that it was a Saturday shoot and that there was two separate spots filmed, one which was a 30-second version and one which was 60 seconds.”

Are there any other tidbits like this, Ben, in the production documents—particularly involving commercials or other filmed oddities that fell outside the actual TV show?

I have some footage of Adam dressed as Batman in the Batmobile and being interviewed by some guy about I think driving safety. Anybody know what that was filmed for? It’s circa 1966 and in black & white.

Sadly nothing that fits this bill other than documents and story boards for the Lava Soap commercial. For a little context, 90% of the production paperwork I have personally is circa S2 and S3, with S1 being almost conspicuous by its absence. Myself and others have been on the hunt for documents from Season One for well over ten years now. The search continues!

Is the Adam interview you mentioned available online?

[Mr. Glee]

...[any] other filmed oddities that fell outside the actual TV show?

There's a letter, dated May 10 '66, from Dozier (probably, but it's unsigned) to Adam West and Burt Ward stating that the Batman footage for the ABC Fall Preview special was scheduled to be filmed on Saturday, May 21st '66. According to the letter, May 21 was "the only day we can clear both of you and Milton Berle."

[BatMite]

...[any] other filmed oddities that fell outside the actual TV show?

There's a letter, dated May 10 '66, from Dozier (probably, but it's unsigned) to Adam West and Burt Ward stating that the Batman footage for the ABC Fall Preview special was scheduled to be filmed on Saturday, May 21st '66. According to the letter, May 21 was "the only day we can clear both of you and Milton Berle."

Thank you for this. Great info.