When I posted the pictures of Tom Laughlin and Sam Arkoff on Monday, Michael Appel found in his collection an ad relevant to the discussion.
Sam Arkoff and his company, AIP, financed and distributed ‘Born Losers’. Sam also had ‘Billy Jack’, but played fast and loose, and Tom moved on leaving AIP out of the ‘Billy Jack’ bonanza. Nonetheless, Sam and AIP still owned ‘Born Losers’, which was the most successful independent film of all time, until ‘Billy Jack’.
Sam, looking for a way to take advantage of ‘Billy Jack’s’ success, started putting ‘Born Losers’ in theaters with very deceptive advertising, making folks think ‘Born Losers’ was either ‘Billy Jack’, or the upcoming sequel to ‘Billy Jack’. The fans were angry. Tom was angry. And the court agreed. Tom successfully got a restraining order against AIP and their deceptive advertising. But that wasn’t enough for Tom. He was very concerned that AIP’s deception would spoil interest in the ‘Billy Jack’ sequel, ‘Trial of Billy Jack’ which was coming out in months.
Tom was not only concerned for normal reasons, but also because Tom and his bunch of brainiacs had planned an incredible new release for ‘Trial’, one that was risking everything, and they needed anticipation to be as high as possible for the sequel to help ensure survival.
[ad provided by Michael Appel from his collection. Thank you, Michael.]
The ad Tom ran denouncing AIP's deceptive advertising, and explaining that 'Born Losers' is not the sequel to 'Billy Jack' (that's Tom in the photo with his head cut off, standing on the set of 'Trial' in Monument Valley)
