Misaimed Marketing: Difference between revisions

 

{{quote|''"Hey, kids! Which horribly disfigured sociopath is your favorite? Get all three, and you get a free straitjacket."''

 

[[Executive Meddling|Executives]] are a superstitious, cowardly lot. They're always worrying about their "next big thing" gaining lots and lots of fans. And so when it comes to marketing and tie-in merchandise, they'll try to cast as wide a net as possible to attract a wide variety of people.

{{examples|"How Toyetic Can you Get?"}}

* One of the biggest inspirations for this trope: the stuffed animals and PEZ dispensers (!?!) of nearly all the major nonhuman characters in ''[[His Dark Materials]]''. And that's not to mention the plastic toy Alethiometers given away at Burger King. These were all meant to promote ''[[The Golden Compass]]'' movie.

* Hasbro has an entire line of [[Fun Size|fun sized]] Marvel [[superhero]]es ("Super Hero Squad") and related lines for other franchises (almost all "____ Heroes", like ''[[Star Wars]]'' Galactic Heroes and ''[[Transformers]]'' Robot Heroes). Chibi [[Indiana Jones]] is a little strange, but [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp0Gz866aPg Hulkie Pokey] (an [[Incredible Hulk]] toy who sings and dances in the same manner as [[Sesame Street|Tickle Me Elmo]]) is just nuts. The cute and cuddly ''[[The Punisher|Punisher]]'' is straight-up madness.

** And to complement the Hulkie Pokey, they have a SD Spider-Man plush that sings Eensy Weensy Spider and another with Spider-Man and his '''security web blanket''' as well.

* The ''[[Star Wars]] [[Transformers]]'' line. Had both Star Wars ''and'' Transformers toys been made by the same company in the '80s, they could have bankrupted their competition because of the sheer awesomeness of the combination. Seeing as how both have been around for nearly the same amount of time, it seems a bit forced.

* Another example of misaimed marketing in ''Transformers'' is the IDW comics original character [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Drift Drift]. While more a [[Canon Sue|canon]]ized [[Gary Stu|fan-character]], the company has been playing him up, as they believe his Japan-centered drift racer car mode, red and white rising sun deco and dual [[Katanas Are Just Better|samurai swords]] will appeal to the fans, who've ended up finding his [[Creator's Pet]] [[Gary Stu]] Japan-shilling slightly insulting. That said, Drift's [[Merchandise-Driven|toy]] is pretty much agreed to be [[So Cool Its Awesome]] by the fans, even those who detest the character. On the other hand, the toy has been redecoed as Blurr, so Drift-haters can still experience the figure without actually owning a "Drift".

* [[J. K. Rowling]] rejected a lot of hypothetical ''[[Harry Potter]]'' merch. Her least favourite idea was the "Moaning Myrtle toilet seat". This mindset makes the existence of [http://www.toymania.com/columns/spotlight/hplevgame.shtml this "levitation skill game"] even more odd.

** How many ''Harry Potter'' fans actually wanted to know firsthand what an earwax-flavored Bertie Bott Bean tasted like anyway?

{{quote|"Now, ''[[Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves|Prince of Thieves]]'' is an EXCITING CEREAL!!!"}}

* Dear God, [[Barbie]]:

** [http://web.ecomplanet.com/USIM3087/ServerContent/MyCustomImages/USIM3087CustomImage2164879.jpg Star]{{Dead link}} [http://img.trekmovie.com/images/merchandise/barbie/Barbies2.jpg Trek] Barbies. In [[Red Shirt|red uniform]], of course.

** [https://web.archive.org/web/20120521111356/http://www.dollgenie.com/giftsets/1998-GS-X-Files.jpg X-Files] Barbies.