Play It Again

Joop Geesink, 39, is a ball-shaped Dutchman who runs the Dollywood Film Corp. in Amsterdam, where puppeteers, artists and moviemakers grind out some of the liveliest TV and theater commercials seen anywhere. Joop (pronounced yoop) supplies a few Michigan and California stations with beer commercials (Goebel Brewing Co.) which are so attractive that one station has actually received requests to "play it again." Most of Joop's commercials run about 20 seconds, feature remarkably lifelike, plastic puppets moving stringlessly, smoothly and expressively through slapdash roles. Only near the end of the "puppetoon" does the audience get the well-cushioned plug.

Last week Joop was visiting the U.S., lining up some new accounts on the basis of his Goebel beer success. For televiewers, who have learned to brace themselves or ignore, with philosophical indifference, the local brand of hard-selling commercials, it looked like an era of happy viewing, thanks to Joop and Dollywood.

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