Product placement was given a whole new meaning in a Belarus cinema theatre, where moviegoers were offered free samples of dairy products. Previously it had offered sauna tickets and taxi rides.

The theatre in the small city of Vitebsk in northern Belarus has a creative approach towards earning extra income in the times of crisis. They lured people by raffling a parachute jump and free dinners and feeding visitors with army porridge, says newspaper Narodnoye Slovo.

The latest idea of the management was to award prizes from a local dairy producer, including a four-kilogram cheese. The start-up company received a promotion, while the theatre attracted more movie (or milk) lovers.

The move was said to have been inspired by the film plot, where main characters flee from police with a lot of money tucked inside a milk canister.

Businessmen in Belarus sometimes use startling ways to place ads. For instance, the upcoming concert of dance group The Prodigy in Minsk was advertised through stamps on eggs sold in the capital.