Minor Jean

Minor Jean , born the March 12th 1902 with Valencian, dead the October 19th 1985, with Paris, pioneer of the Publicity and the advertizing Cinema in France. Its advertizing agency was symbolized by the famous character of the “Small Minor”.

Biography

Jean Mineur was an autodidact, having left the school benches on 14 years.

Jean Mineur begins his activity in 1924, creating in the cinema a new trade: that of advertizing manager, with his practices and its codes. He makes at the time the double bet of the cinema and publicity, gradually convainquant the owners of cinemas and the customers (baptized “advertisers” at the time) of the cogency of publicity to the cinema.

The advertizing film appears almost simultaneously with the cinema. Very quickly, of films, presenting factories or commercial products, are financed by marks. Méliès thus makes a publicity for mustard “Bornibus” (certainly front 1912). Railway Romance is produced by Edison for the promotion of a train. There approximately exist even images of Picon gone back to 1905.

The ancestor of publicity to the cinema is called “curtain-claims it”. Descended and gone up by the owner of the room to each meeting, this one revealed publicity for local tradesmen, painted in boxes.

The first advertizing films, in the form of Cartoons (like those of Lortac for example), appear as of the beginning of the Années 1920.

Jean Mineur creates his first company with Valencians in 1927 and, overcoming the difficulties related to the reserves of the French with respect to the “American” methods of publicity and promotion, manages to unceasingly convince a number crescent of owners and customers. Its fast success is known Leon Rénier, leader of Havas, which then proposes to him to repurchase it. Eager to preserve his independence, Jean Mineur refuses and settles in 1936 with Paris to fight his competitors on their ground.

He joined in 1938 the buildings which he will occupy during several decades, located at the 79 of the Avenue of the Fields-Élysées and obtains a phone number which becomes the most famous number of France: Balzac 00 01 !

Persevering and baited contractor, Jean Mineur is also a man of communication intuitive and effective, understanding that best publicity for its activity starts with its own publicity! Thus, in 1951, appears on the screens, at the conclusion of several attempts, that which is essential quickly like one of the advertizing “icons” most known of the century; the “small Minor” created by Albert Champeaux. Launching his peak in a target with the sound of a code composed by Rene Cloërec, the Small Minor incarnates, as of this time, the relevance of the advertizing cinema like means of touching his target, speech to which is sensitive a growing number of advertisers. The decoration and the character of the Small Minor explicitly refer in the name of Jean Mineur and to the universe of its childhood: the mining North of France.

He was the representative of the National center of cinematography to the Cannes festival in 1947 and 1952.

The age of Minor Jean and fears legitimate vis-a-vis the arrival of publicity on television on October 1st 1968 lead it to accept the bringing together with its competitor, giving rise to Médiavision on January 1st 1971.

Jean Mineur died in 1985 with Paris. According to its last wills, its new coordinates are engraved on its tomb (square n° 19 of the cemetery of Cannes): “Eden 00 01”…

Homages

  • the success of Minor Jean and the notoriety of its small character are worth to him, in 1955, to be decorated with the Légion of honor.

  • September 16th and 17th 2006, the town of Valencian paid homage to its more famous publicity agent by organizing an exposure at the time of the days of the inheritance to the effigy of Jean Mineur. New school HQE of the district of Saint - Waast bears its name today.

See too

Random links:Intel i960 | Chantal De Spiegeleer | Cheiro de Amor | Huércal Overa | Elect the Dead | Liste_de_fleuves_de_la_Nouvelle_Zélande