Word: gimmicked
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...that led to his breakthrough in Scarface (1932). In his later years his career lagged, and he was barred from re-entering England because of associations with real-life mobsters including Bugsy Siegel and Dutch Schultz. He maintained that the unsavory underworld image that clung to him was "my gimmick-it was the only way the public would accept...
...currently favored gimmick involves buying, at wholesale prices, box-loads of Bibles for $5 each. After holding them for one year, the investor donates the books Jo charity and takes a tax deduction of $20 for each Bible, the value set by the original owner. Another shelter under attack involves buying lithograph plates of an obscure artist, which gives the owner the right to produce 300 or so limited-edition prints. The investor might pay for this with $30,000 in cash, plus $120,000 in a so-called nonrecourse note, which does not have to be paid unless...
Clowning for Christ advocates point out that their approach is not a new gimmick but the revival of an ancient tradition. Clowns often had an important role in medieval church services: they played the part of "holy interrupters," popping up to illustrate a theological point through mime, magic or even mockery. Gradually, however, they began to satirize the church and secular society. "This did not make clowns very popular," Shaffer notes. They fell out of favor with the church and eventually were declared satanic. Thereafter clowns kept to the secular world of the circus-at least until their current revival...
Some deposit-starved banks have long tried attracting new business with gifts like toasters and TV sets. But the latest gimmick is an improbable appeal to human friendship. Banks in New York, Chicago and St. Paul are now making their pitch to the potential customer's pals. "Bring a friend," advertises New York's Manufacturers Hanover Trust. If someone deposits $75,000 for 2½ years, his pal will collect a sponsor's fee of $2,343.75. The First National Bank of Chicago pays a finder $25 for each $1,000 deposited by a buddy into...
...complexity, he would be perceived as a cartoon villain among prime time's standard retinue of sanctified simps. If Dallas did not offer the rarest of series commodities-narrative surprise and character change -the attempt on J.R.'s life would be no more than a gimmick, instead of the logical climax to a season of devilish intrigue...