July 6, 1964 - Daniel Boone, who inspired frontier legends before Davy Crockett was born, will be given a hard-sell introduction even before he becomes a television character this fall.
NBC will start a campaign next week to lure the bubble-gum set into the Daniel Boone camp. The series will go on the air in September.
Fess Parker (right with Darby Hinton), who has traded in his coonskin Davy Crockett cap for a coonskin Daniel Boone cap, will make personal appearances on behalf of the show and almost $10 million worth of frontier merchandise that will be placed on the market.
Chain stores and supermarkets will sell Daniel Boone T-shirts, pajamas, trousers, jackets, wagons, luncheon kits, trading cards, rifles, and caps. Profits will be shared by NBC, Mr. Parker, and 20th Century-Fox, which is producing the series.
“This is probably the most ambitious campaign that’s ever been used on a new show,” Norman Lunenfeld, manager of merchandising for NBC Enterprise, said. “We hope it will be more successful than the Davy Crockett rage.”
Mr. Parker’s picture as Daniel Boone will be on all the products. “When children go into a store and see a familiar face on a toy, they want it,” Mr. Lunenfeld added. “Enthusiasm for Boone in the promotional field is already at fever pitch.”
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