History Main / TheMerch

* ''Manga/SailorMoon'' became such a franchise that Creator/NaokoTakeuchi got sick of it and pulled rights from Toei.

* MCFrontalot himself is totally not driven by this, but his collab with Music/MCLars, ''Captains of Industry'', claims otherwise.

* A group of fans [[http://operationrequiem.storenvy.com/ got together]] to sell an unofficial Anime/AttackOnTitan artbook and give the proceeds to charity.

** From 1964 to about 1966 or so, "Dalekmania" (a Dalek craze created by how iconic and menacing the Daleks were) hit, and British stores were filled with toys, games, kids' clothing, cakes, Easter eggs, plates, OfficialCosplayGear, ice lollies, anything you can think of, all bearing the image of the Daleks. This unfortunately led to a period of the show's writers being forced by executive mandate to create monsters and worlds designed to be "[[{{Toyetic}} memorable]]". This resulted in a slew of forgettable monsters such as the Voord and the Mechanoids and spectacularly rubbish-looking monsters such as the Krotons, Zarbi and Menoptera-Optera, most of which would copy the Dalek formula with some combination of 1) a rather garish design, 2) a distinctive speech quirk such as AccentUponTheWrongSyllable, RoboSpeak, SssssnakeTalk, etcetera that children were intended to imitate in the playground, and 3) very long serials introducing them and going into a lot of depth about their planet and culture (to create spinoff children's book opportunities). None of these forced attempts to create mascots were ever as effective as the Daleks, or the Cybermen (who were not designed to be anything other than terrifying), although it's worth noting that the Zarbi in particular ''were'' very popular at the time.

* Before there was ''Star Wars'', there was [[DoctorWho Dalekmania]]. From 1964 to about 1966 or so, British stores were filled with toys, games, kids' clothing, cakes, Easter eggs, plates, anything you can think of, all bearing the image of the Daleks.

->''"Moichandising, moichandising! Where da ''real'' money from da movie is made! Spaceballs: da T-shirt, Spaceballs: da Coloring Book, Spaceballs: da Lunchbox, Spaceballs: da Breakfast Cereal! Spaceballs: da Flame Throwah!! [[note]]Da kids love dis one.[[/note]]"''

* [[TheBBC BBC Worldwide]] exists to sell merchandise for BBC programming. It has been rumored that the new Dalek designs in Season 5 were done to provide new merchandise to sell for ''Series/DoctorWho''.[[note]] Apparently, it's really because the old ones were scaled for Music/BilliePiper, and the new ones are scaled for Creator/MattSmith and Creator/KarenGillian.[[/note]] There is definitely a new [[http://www.bbcamericashop.com/house-and-home/doctor-who-eleventh-doctors-sonic-screwdriver-15773.html sonic screwdriver]] available for sale in the US and UK.

* {{ECW}} constant money problems led to this in spades. Rather hilariously most of the merchandise was designed by wrestler Taz, with other wrestlers like Dreamer and Richards involved in sales.

* [[TheBBC BBC Worldwide]] exists to sell merchandise for BBC programming. It has been rumored that the new Dalek designs in Season 5 were done to provide new merchandise to sell for ''Series/DoctorWho''.[[note]] Apparently, it's really because the old ones were scaled for BilliePiper, and the new ones are scaled for MattSmith and KarenGillian.[[/note]] There is definitely a new [[http://www.bbcamericashop.com/house-and-home/doctor-who-eleventh-doctors-sonic-screwdriver-15773.html sonic screwdriver]] available for sale in the US and UK.

* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' mostly sells book collections of the strips but also sells other things including T-Shirts, bags, magnets and miniatures.

* ''AtopTheFourthWall'', where bad comics burn, also has merch, specifically T-Shirts. LOTS of T-shirts. Some of the other Channel Awesome contributors have it as well, but Linkara's the most notable example, being that, as he noted recently during a video to call attention to people not watching ads, AT4W is his ''day job'', and given the rise of ad blockers, people watching the videos without watching the ads means he has less money to pay the bills with.

* MysticStudiosProductions calls their Merch "Moon Gear". They'll slap their logo on anything. Plus logos for their comics and characters, drawings and injokes from such.

* Franchise/{{Batman}} is another consistent merchandising juggernaut, with two of the most recent cartoons (''TheBatman'' and ''BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'') produced [[MerchandiseDriven for the express purpose of selling toys]]. [[TropesAreNotBad This isn't necessarily a bad thing, of course]], as the latter is very well-regarded by fans.

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' has a very strange and bipolar relationship with its marketing, even aside from the tone of the story. Allegedly, a fan once proudly told HideakiAnno that he had sold all his university textbooks to buy more Eva merchandise. Anno called him an idiot and told him to study harder.

* [=WhizBang=] Pinball's ''[[Pinball/WhoaNellieBigJuicyMelons Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons]]'' has T-shirts and mugs featuring the [[BuxomIsBetter healthy-living]] FarmersDaughter Melony Mellon.

And, unfortunately, creative work doesn't pay very well until you're famous. And sometimes it doesn't pay very well even then. So what ''do'' you do to help support your [[strike:habit]] creative endeavors?

So, you start to sell stuff. T-shirts, pins, prints, [=CDs=], and cards are the obvious choices. But mouse pads, coffee mugs, baseball caps, plushies, posters, babies' onesies, messenger bags, and refrigerator magnets all have their fans. In fact, anything that you can figure out how to stick a logo, character or catchphrase onto will do. That's "TheMerch". The merchandise. The moneymaker. The stuff that pays the bills.

{{Sub Trope}}s:

Contrast MerchandiseDriven, which covers instances when the creators of TheMerch are the same people who have creative control over the show. If TheMerch debuted in the work, then it's a {{Defictionalization}} that may or may not be in response to TheRedStapler effect. When merchandising works well enough, then we learn that CrackIsCheaper.

Compare {{Toys}}. For more substantial tie-in works, see TieInNovel, TheFilmOfTheBook, TheAnimeOfTheGame, and LicensedGame.

* MysticStudiosProductions calls their Merch "Moon Gear". They'll literally slap their logo on anything. Not to mention, logos for their comics and characters, drawings and injokes from such.
* Comicbook/{{Superman}} was the first comic book character to have a steady flow of merchandise through the 40s and 50s ever since he debuted on the four-color page.
* Comicbook/{{Batman}} is another consistent merchandising juggernaut, with two of the most recent cartoons (''TheBatman'' and ''BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'') produced [[MerchandiseDriven for the express purpose of selling toys]]. [[TropesAreNotBad This isn't necessarily a bad thing, of course]], as the latter is very well-regarded by fans.

* ''ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' has such licensed merchandise as music boxes, jewelry, figurines, and snowglobes on top of mugs and tees. Available soundtracks include ones for the original London cast, original Canadian cast, and the movie -- and then there are the foreign-language recordings. The sequel ''Love Never Dies'' is already pushing jewelry, key rings, magnets, etc.
* Any Disney live show, be it the latest ''Disney On Ice'' tour or a legit musical like ''The Lion King'', will have tons of merch.
* Most CirqueDuSoleil shows have a soundtrack album, [=DVD=] (either the actual show or a making-of documentary), T-shirts, program, ornaments, keychains, masks, hats, drinkware, etc. ''Then'' there's the merchandise representing the overall company, which includes all of the above items plus stationery, coffee table books, toys, salt and pepper shakers, jewelry, lip balm, etc., etc. (That merchandise is now brought out in new "collections" every few months via the online boutique.) The non-touring "resident" shows all have dedicated gift shops, and the big top tours feature a large entrance tent that includes the souvenir stands.

* An early ''Planet Karen'' strip [[http://planetkaren.girl-wonder.org/index.php?strip_id=40 suggested a possibility]] for ''TheDarkTower'' merch.