What better way to promote something than with tie-in merchandise? Disney has used the concept to great effect, relieving parents everywhere of their hard earned cash so their kids can own a piece of Hannah Montana or the Jonas Brothers.
It’s not just kids that are sucked in though. Women of the world yearning to go on a voyage of self-discovery like Julia Roberts in new movie ‘Eat Pray Love’ can purchase a lotus petal necklace, organic tee-shirt or official prayer beads to help them on their journey to inner peace- and of course create a buzz around the movie before it is even released.
Tie in merchandise can be a little bit hit or miss, but even if it’s a miss, it can still make big bucks.
Twilight fans are known to be hardcore addicts of anything related to the hit movie and books. Proof that you can slap the Twilight label on anything to make some money comes in the form of, Love at first bite- the Twilight cookbook. The glaring fact that vampires don’t eat isn’t holding this franchise back.
One movie merchandising idea which must have seemed a great idea in the pitch, but didn’t quite work out the way they had hoped, was ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ Happy Meal toys. The association between a kids film and a fast-food giant serving junk food was a little controversial, and you don’t want to get on the wrong side of parents. Disney/Pixar already distanced themselves from promoting their movies with McDonald’s back in 2007.
In a completely pointless (but either utterly brilliant, if you’re a fan, or downright creepy if you dislike dolls) joint merchandising venture, Mattel has produced Barbie dolls of the characters from Mad Men. The TV show is already huge among both viewers and critics, and making dolls of adult characters from an adult show doesn’t make much sense (Mark Davison at thecollectivereview.com points out this bizarreness in a much more amusing way).
The possibilities for Mad Men merchandising could be quite exciting though (once they move on from the doll idea). Who wouldn’t want to look like Joan, or Don Draper in a Mad Men fashion range?
Published on behalf of Lynsey Barber