Line #65 Main/NowBuyTheMerchandise


1	[[quoteright:330:[[WebAnimation/CheatCommandos https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/800px-ccommandos_4931.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:330:[[WebVideo/GameGrumps You can buy the toys, YOU CAN BUY THE TOYS.]]]]
3
4
5	->''"Incidentally, this record is available in the foyer. Some of us have got to live as well, you know."''
6	-->-- '''Mr. Cheeky''', during the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian''
7
8	When a show [[BreakingTheFourthWall breaks the fourth wall]] and implores the audience to please go out and buy TheMerch, because the show's creators would really like to get some income from it.
9
10	Usually associated with parodies of MerchandiseDriven shows. Compare EnforcedPlug and PleaseSubscribeToOurChannel.
11	----
12	!!Examples:
13
14	[[foldercontrol]]
15
16	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
17	* The English dub for the last episode of ''[[Anime/TsukuyomiMoonPhase Moon Phase]]'' ends with Haiji using these very words.
18	[[/folder]]
19
20	[[folder:Comic Books]]
21	* The ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogPromoComic'' tells the reader to go buy [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 the game it's based on]] to find out how it ends.
22	* ''ComicBook/SensationComicsFeaturingWonderWoman'': Lampshaded in "The Problem With Cats" where Wondy asks if ComicBook/{{Cheetah}} doesn't want the whole novelty set when Cheetah demands the Lasso of Truth before telling her and the reader that it comes with the lasso and a model invisible plane.
23	[[/folder]]
24
25	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
26	* ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'' introduced Bill the Cat with strips plugging Bill-themed products, in a not-too-subtle TakeThat against the ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' merchandising empire, the joke being that "cats are cute" (allegedly) but Bill really isn't.
27	-->'''Coupon''': YES! I want to join the "Bill the Cat Buyers Club!" I promise to buy only "Bill the Cat" junk for the rest of my life. If I don't, my dog will be stolen and fed to giant pygmies.
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Fan Works]]
31	* ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'': ''Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Movie'' superimposes the caption "BUY YU-GI-OH CARDS TODAY" over the climactic duel.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
35	* Parodied to hell and back in ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}''. Yoghurt has an entire scene dedicated to showing of merchandise, and claims the sequel will be "Spaceballs II: The Search for More Money". A subversion, since George Lucas allowed them to parody ''Star Wars'' only if they didn't make any merchandise.
36	* ''Film/GalaxyQuest'' plays this in-universe when the commentator at the movie convention in the closing scene reminds the audience to buy a Galaxy Quest shirt on their way out.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Literature]]
40	* ''Creator/DaveBarry Talks Back'' does this in a deliberately irrelevant afterword intended for people who decide to buy books based on skimming their final pages. In this afterword, two characters who have nothing to do with the rest of the book (which is a compilation of humor columns) advertise it as a "steamy, action-packed novel." They talk about the book's retail price being a bargain even without the advice on how to make money fast and lose weight effortlessly.
41	-->"Buy this book now!" they chorused. "Mrs. L. Puttee of Big Stoat, Ark., bought this book, and the next day she won four billion dollars in the lottery! Myron Fennel of Syracuse, N.Y., failed to buy this book, and the next day his head was sliced off by a helicopter rotor and landed on the roof of a Holiday Inn four miles distant!"\
42	Your eyes are getting heavy. You are getting sleepy, very, very sleepy. You are walking up to the bookstore clerk. You are taking out your wallet. We take all major credit cards. Thank you.
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
46	* The transitional cityscape shots on {{Creator/MTV}}'s reality and scripted series often include a backing track by a notable or up-and-coming band or artist. During these scenes, information is displayed on the screen which lists the artists, song name and try to direct the viewer to the MTV site (though very few actually do this and just play it on Website/YouTube, Spotify or iTunes).
47	* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' also featured a bevy of ''Creator/WarnerBros'' artists during its run on the Creator/TheWB network. After each episode, they'd name the song and artists featured in that show, and point you to where you could buy their album.
48	* ''{{Series/Kaamelott}}'': InUniverse. Father Blaise is conducting tours of Kaamelott, including the throne room and Arthur's tomb ([[ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated Arthur is understandably somewhat miffed]]), ending with "We would like to remind you that model Excaliburs are on sale at the end of the tour".
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Magazines]]
52	* In the ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' parody of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', the ThemeTuneRap admits to being a "gratuitous plug" which somehow gets past [[UsefulNotes/SegregatedCommercial FCC regulations]]:
53	-->Bulbasaur, Magmar, Jigglypuff!\
54	Bellsprout, Squirtle, Wigglytuff!\
55	Raticate, Omanyte, Rapidash,\
56	And other dumb names to suck your cash!\
57	Give us pesos, schillings, yen, rupees,\
58	There is no bottom to our sleaze!\
59	Money orders, check, or credit card,\
60	We're pushing this crap and we're pushing it hard!
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
64	* Sure, there is already a MerchandiseDriven nature to pro wrestling, but the Wrestling/NewWorldOrder took TV spots hocking their t-shirts to absurd, self-parodic, even deconstructive levels, mostly by Wrestling/KevinNash squawking in an overly shrill voice, "Buy the shirt!"
65	** The WWE is taking this to parody to levels of deconstruction now with the WWE Network, which they '''''constantly''''' advertise as being only $9.99[[note]](per month)
66	* Between matches, Wrestling/RingOfHonor often has clips of wrestlers updating fans about their latest products. And ACH [[https://www.facebook.com/ringofhonor/videos/10154383469716328/ seemingly]] couldn't wait even that long.[[/note]]
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Radio]]
70	* For some time ''Radio/TheBrewingNetwork'''s Justin was pretty much supported by merchandise sales and donations from listeners (with a lot of on air gratitude), with some sponsors making up the gap. There are more sponsors now, but he insists that donations and merchandise sales still help not only keep the show on the air but keep him in food.
71	[[/folder]]
72
73	[[folder:Theatre]]
74	* In the revue ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1936'', the lyrics of the DanceSensation spoof "The Gazooka" took care to mention that its sheet music was "thirty cents a copy -- one you ought to buy!" The revue's finale, "Dancing To The Score," shamelessly plugged several earlier numbers because "it helps the sales at ev'ry music store."
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Video Games]]
78	* ''VideoGame/MortalKombatII'' parodies this in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hzWw6fHFVg friendship move]] done by the male ninja characters, where they flat out [[BreakingTheFourthWall tell the player to buy a doll of him]].
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Web Animation]]
82	* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': Parodied by the ''WebAnimation/CheatCommandos'', whose theme song ends with the tagline "Buy all our playsets and toys!"
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Web Video]]
86	* Some HypocriticalHumour for [[Creator/BenCroshaw Ben "Yahtzee" Crowshaw]]:
87	-->"Fans are [[FanDumb clingy, complaining dipshits]] who will [[UnpleasableFanbase never ever be grateful for any concession you make.]] The moment you shut out their shrill, [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks tremulous]] voices, the happier you will be for it. [[HypocriticalHumor Incidentally,]] why not buy a WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation T-shirt?"
88	* Music/DoctorSteel's NightmareFuel homage to the Home Shopping Network in ''The Dr. Steel Show'', Episode 1. (Dr. Steel is a toymaker, so what do you expect?) Also sung about in his song, ''Back and Forth'': "You can think for yourselves / Or you can buy all my toys...consume and gobble it up..."
89	* ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier'': A RunningGag on merch-based series that started with the Beyblade special is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIWIjw-yotQ an annoying jingle]] repeatedly singing "Just buy! Our crap!", combined with screen messages like "YOU NEED THIS" and "IF YOU CAN'T BUY IT KILL YOURSELF".
90	* ''WebVideo/SecretLifeSMP'': Invoked. Joel's assigned task on Day 1 is to plug the ''WebVideo/LifeSMP'' merch four times in the session, at the worst timing possible. He usually chooses to interpret this as advertising [[SkewedPriorities while fighting mobs]].
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Western Animation]]
94	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
95	** In the episode "Towelie", they break to a fake commercial selling a Towelie towel. Incidentally, [[http://shop.comedycentral.com/South-Park-Towelie-Towel/M/B0035XJM8U.htm you can really buy one]] (not exactly the same, as it doesn't have a speech chip).
96	** In "Free Hat", there's a a fake advertisement for a GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion of the show's very first episode, complete with the aliens and spaceship being replaced with CGI versions, and characters and creatures from ''Franchise/StarWars'' inexplicably roaming around.
97	-->'''Announcer:''' Get this special enhanced version quick, because another enhanced version will likely be coming out for 2003!
98	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'' had an episode that was essentially a commercial for a toy of his car, the Freakmobile. It even comes with its own chubby sidekick figure. They tell the viewer to run right out and get one NOW. At the end the narrator reads off a [[RattlingOffLegal disclaimer]] telling the viewer not to go anywhere as (sadly) the toys don't really exist and it's all a joke[[note]]Selling merchandise within the show, as well as during commercial breaks within the same program, has been illegal on American television since 1990.[[/note]].
99	* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'': At the end of an episode of the ShowWithinAShow ''Clam League 9000'' (which looks like a bizarre mixture of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' and ''Anime/DragonBallZ''), the protagonist literally shouts at the viewer "And you can too if you go to the store and BUY OUR TOYS! BUY OUR TOYS! BUY OUR TOYS!"
100	* ''{{WesternAnimation/Daria}}'' never had an explicit advertisement for music, but a lot of the background music was from artists MTV was trying to push at the time. It became a problem when releasing the show for DVD because they had to replace all of the music with generic background tracks, least they get into a nightmare of licensing fees.
101	[[/folder]]
102	----
103	Now buy some TV Tropes merchandise [[https://www.zazzle.com/tvtropes* here]]!

Context Main / NowBuyTheMerchandise