By the 1940s, press books had developed a complex and sophisticated battery of techniques to promote a film. Many of these recur time and time again. The story was often rendered as a strip cartoon, as in A Tale of Two Cities. Other ploys might include a painting contest for children, a quiz or a crossword. No angle was ever left unexploited: there was even a tie-up with car dealers to compare travel facilities in Dicken's time with 'the comfort of modern cars'.

Merchandising, too, formed a big part of the publicity campaign. In the publicity for One Million Years B.C., for example, consumers were promised 'a million years of luck' if they bought Dam Trolls, and the 'million' tag was appended to a number of ads for local shops and services. Even a top class release like Hamlet exploited a tie-up with Pollock's famous toy theatres.