History Main / UnisexSeriesGenderedMerchandise

* There was a backlash when the toys based on ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' was released because there was no action figure for Black Widow (the only female member of the team). Notably in the film she rides a motorcycle and uses Captain America's shield in conjunction with it, but the toys had Cap riding the bike in Hasbro's version and Iron Man in Mattel's. The toylines for ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and ''Film/AvengersEndGame'' notably avert this, with Black Widow being a prominently marketed character in the toyline.

* ''ComicBook/MonicasGang'': While the show and comics are aimed at a gender-neutral audience, certainly helped with the main four being a GenderEqualEnsemble of two girls and two boys, much of the merchandise is aimed at girls, with Monica and Maggy having a majority of the merch themed around them.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is a unisex show, but most of its merchandise aimed at kids is for boys and solely features Bart. Even adult-oriented merch and general marketing for the show seem to focus on Homer and Bart almost exclusively.

Merchandise is a tricky thing. Often times, merchandise producers don't seem to take note of what the work is about. A lot of [[MisaimedMarketing merchandise will blatantly go against]] a work's morals or feature [[OutOfCharacter the characters doing things they'd never do]]. Merchandise also has a tendency to be aimed at one gender that isn't the ''entirety'' of the audience. A work with a unisex audience will end up with merchandise aimed at either mostly men or mostly women.

Compare to MisaimedMarketing and AudienceShift. See also MenswearGhetto, when clothing in a virtual economy heavily favors female player characters even when the game or site in question is intended for a gender neutral audience.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is a unisex show, but most merchandise [[MisaimedMarketing aimed at kids is for boys]] and solely features Bart. Even adult-oriented merch and general marketing for the show seem to focus on Homer and Bart almost exclusively.

** The merchandise for ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' is heavily aimed toward girls which makes sense since most of the major characters are girls. However, of the male supporting characters, namely Jin and Tyler, only the Jin has any related merch despite Tyler having more screentime and a greater impact on the plot than Jin. There's also 4*Town but they are more of a plot device than fleshed out characters and they do feature on some of the merch.

** To similar reasons, the ''Manga/OnePiece'' toy line released in North America also excluded the female characters, such as Nami, Nico Robin and Vivi. Thankfully, similarily to Naruto, this has since improved with later toylines based on the series, such as S.H.Figuarts, Portrait Of Pirates and Variable Action Heroes, who made the female characters early on in the lines.

** To similar reasons, the ''Manga/{{OnePiece}}'' toy line released in North America also excluded the female characters, such as Nami, Nico Robin and Vivi. Thankfully, similarily to Naruto, this has since improved with later toylines based on the series, such as S.H.Figuarts, Portrait Of Pirates and Variable Action Heroes, who made the female characters early on in the lines.

* The old Mattel ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' toys that came out in the West excluded all the female characters. This included very important characters, like Sakura, who was in almost every episode and a main character. What made this particularly conspicuous is that many characters who were far less significant than Sakura, like Kimimaro, Kidomaru and Iruka, got toys. This is because Mattel, the creator of the toys, marketed the figures to boys, and they thought that boys wouldn't play with the girl figures.

* ''VideoGame/{{Atelier}}'' is for a gender neutral audience, and most games have a GenderEqualEnsemble or even a CastFullOfPrettyBoys. In fact, a survey revealed most players are women. Despite this, most of TheMerch seems targeted towards a male demographic, with things like scantily-clad figures and fanservicey art prints that make the series look more like a BishojoSeries.

** In Japan however, there are actually lines based entirely around the female characters, including the Naruto Gals action figures.

* The old ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' toys that came out in the West excluded all the female characters. This included very important characters, like Sakura, who was in almost every episode and a main character. What made this particularly conspicuous is that many characters who were far less significant than Sakura, like Kimimaro and Iruka, still got toys. This is because Mattel, the creator of the toys, marketed the figures to boys, and they thought that boys wouldn't play with the girl figures.

* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' tends to be a unisex cartoon (its creator was a man after all), with both male and female characters being given equal amount of screentime, and has a share of a male and female fandom. Most of its merchandise is aimed at younger girls, likely because the titular group of heroes are female.

* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' qualifies as a unisex cartoon (its creator was a man after all). There are a handful of girl characters and it has a share of a male and female fandom. There has always been a lot of merchandise aimed at younger girls, especially since the show's debut.

* There was a backlash when the toys based on ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' was released because there was no action figure for Black Widow (the only female member of the team). Notably, in the latter film, she rides a motorcycle and uses Captain America's shield in conjunction with it, but the toys had Cap riding the bike in Hasbro's version and Iron Man in Mattel's. The toylines for ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and ''Film/AvengersEndGame'' notably avert this, with Black Widow being a prominently marketed character in the toyline.