History Main / TheMerch

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'' has generated this for Disney and Pixar. Within a few years of existence, it became the sixth best-selling toy brand on the market, making ''$2 billion'' per year in merchandise.

->''"[[FunetikAksent 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]]"[[MyLittlePanzer Da kids love dis one.]]"[[/note]]''

* In-universe for ''Comicbook/{{Empowered}}''. In-story, there are official Superhomey ringtones and themed T-shirts (and panties), plus action figures of their Rogues' Gallery.

** The films always have tie-in toylines, though how large they are usually depends on how "toyetic" the film itself is.[[note]]For instance, the ''Film/IronMan1'', ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', ''[[Film/SpiderManHomecoming Spider-Man]]'' and ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'' movies all had larger toylines than ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'' or ''Film/AntMan1''. The various TV series (''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', ''Series/AgentCarter'' and the Netflix shows (''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'', ''Series/{{Jessica Jones|2015}}'', ''Series/{{Luke Cage|2016}}'' and ''Series/{{Iron Fist|2017}}'') also tended to have less merchandise, since they are aimed at a more adult audience.[[/note]]

* [[{{Toku}} Tokusatsu]] series, especially the ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and ''Franchise/KamenRider'' franchises, exist to sell merchandise. From the transformation devices and trinkets, to expensive and highly articulated figures, to just about everything else you can imagine, the success of the series is less about the ratings it pulls in, and more about the profit its toys make.

** One of the reasons RobotDog K-9 was added to the cast was because, as a KidAppealCharacter, it was easy to sell toys of him. Tom Baker has claimed in interviews that he strongly disliked that about the character, as he felt the Doctor role had something of a [[MessianicArchetype messianic]] feel to it and it served as a constant reminder that he was just making commercial, money-hungry television.

* The 2011 series of ''Series/ImACelebrityGetMeOutOfHere'' features hosts Creator/AntAndDec plotting to make a bit of cash on the side by flogging Merch featuring the contestants... like [[IncrediblyLamePun Anthony Cotton buds]] and the Little Willie[[note]]Carson[[/note]] mug ("Oh. That's... that's not the picture we were thinking of." "[[ThinkOfTheCensors We can't show that!]]")

* More recently, Creator/BruceTimm confirmed that ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' and ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'' were cancelled due to this as well. ''Young Justice'' had a toy line, but it didn't sell well, while ''Green Lantern'' never even had one due to the surplus of unsold toys from the flopped [[Film/GreenLantern2011 live-action movie]].

* ''[[Pinball/WhoaNellieBigJuicyMelons Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons]]'': [=WhizBang=] Pinball has mugs, T-shirts, framed backglass art, and standees featuring the [[BuxomIsBetter healthy-living]] FarmersDaughter Melony for sale.

* EverythingsBetterWithPlushies\\
Little stuffed versions of your favorite... anything from the work.

* ''Animation/HappyHeroes'' has had all sorts of action figures and [[EverythingsBetterWithPlushies plushes]], among other toys, made for it. One of the non-action figure/plush toy series is very much like the Franchise/{{LEGO}} sets where the Supermen's [[TransformingMecha Car Knights]] are built with similar parts and the Supermen themselves come as minifigures.

* Being a icon of Georgian's children media, ''Animation/IllReturnAsTheRain'' has numerous kinds of merchandise. Among other things, there are [[EverythingsBetterWithPlushies plush toys of Guda-Guda]], several picture books based on the short, and brand crayons.

* ''Film/SaveYourselves'': Various merchandise produced for the movie includes T-shirts, masks, [[EverythingsBetterWithPlushies plush pouffes]], postcards, go-bags, and even Hawaiian shirts and dresses that contain pouffes and cell phones on them.

* For a short that's only 10 minutes long, ''Animation/MeCvimadMoval'' has a surprising amount of merchandise. Among other things, there are [[EverythingsBetterWithPlushies plush toys of the snowman character from the short]], several picture books based on the short, and ''Me Cvimad Moval'' brand crayons.

* ''Webcomic/ZebraGirl'' has "Joe Does Something!" -- for every $500 in donations that Joe racks up, he posts a funny little animation involving his AuthorAvatar... err... doing something.
* The title bar of ''Webcomic/DieselSweeties'' asserts that its full name is "diesel sweeties: indie rock robot romance webcomic and geeky t-shirt blogporium"

* Brian Clevenger of ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' has a question on his site FAQ that essentially asks "Why did you sell out?", he claims (humorously) that there's no legal way to make money on nothing but his good looks.

* ''Webcomic/CtrlAltDel'' offers t-shirts, printed comic collections, refrigerator magnets, posters, maquettes, plushies and more based on the comic.

* ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'' has spawned such a thriving T-shirt business for creator Chris Hastings that, in a recent interview, he mentioned that he sells his merch (at Topatoco) under the name "Raptor Bandit Industries" so he can draw in customers who don't read his comic.

* Appropriately enough, ''Webcomic/YehudaMoonAndTheKickstandCyclery'' sells Yehuda's [[SignatureHeadgear cycling cap]].
* There is a fair amount of Merch available for ''Webcomic/GreyIs'', including cups and bookmarks with chibi Black and White on them

* An in-universe example for ''Webcomic/{{Heartcore}}'': ThePaladin Syranon Glaed, famous demon hunter and good-looking [[LittleBitBeastly Beastman]], has merchandise based on him in [[DomedHometown New Ayers]] due to his popularity with the people.
** In real life, the author also offers donation incentives in the form of pins, stickers, fridge magnets, and bookmarks.

* ''Webcomic/CobwebAndStripes'': A weekly {{Fan Webcomic|s}} that has its own merch department in the artist's [=RedBubble=] store, where readers can purchase images from the strip on various items.
* In ''Webcomic/TheBirdFeeder'' [[http://thebirdfeeder.com/comic/216 #216]], "Shameful Self-Promotion," Darryl [[FourthWallObserver breaks the fourth wall]] to try to help "his cartoonist" to sell some product.
* ''Webcomic/TigerTiger'': There's a plush of [[https://www.tigertigercomic.com/tiger-tiger/commercialbreak "Sausage".]]

* ''Webcomic/TigerTiger'': There's a plush of [[https://www.tigertigercomic.com/tiger-tiger/commercialbreak "Sausage".]]

When a work's merch is plugged InUniverse.

** There is supposedly a mandate in the new series that every episode has to feature a MonsterOfTheWeek which could potentially create toy opportunities. If that's the case, this does some damage to the straightfoward drama [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E8FathersDay "Father's Day"]], which is just about Rose trying to change her own past; the ClockRoaches are quite obviously forced in and only appear in that one episode despite ''many'' later stories involving paradoxes that the Reapers should be summoned by. It also hurts [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E6TheWomanWhoLived "The Woman Who Lived"]]; the quiet story of the Doctor and Ashildr/Lady Me crossing paths again centuries after the former immortalized the latter to save her life is plenty compelling and could have been even more so if it hadn't brought in ObviouslyEvil LionMan Leandro to provide an alien invasion plot and action climax.

Sometimes The Merch becomes more important than the work it was intended to support. A big sign of a CashCowFranchise.

* [[Wiki/TVTropes This very wiki]] has joined in peddling The Merch, with its new [[http://www.zazzle.com/tvtropes* merchandise store]].
* Wiki/TFWikiDotNet for ''Franchise/TheTransformers'' has a page entitled ''To Sell Toys.'' Because everything in Transformers revolves around it, including the cartoon series.

* Appropriately enough, ''Webcomic/YehudaMoonAndTheKickstandCyclery'' sells Yehuda's [[CoolHat cycling cap]].

** Can't stress enough that Transformers fans usually expect this. Some even [[UpToEleven take it to eleven]] by crying foul when a toy from a particular line is not incorporated into that line's promotional media. ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' may be the biggest example as, due to the then new CGI budget, it was far easier to make toys then to make TV characters, so a core cast was developed because a large cast was just not feasible. Years later, the rest of the toyline got a comic series.

** Can't stress enough that Transformers fans usually expect this. Some even [[UpToEleven take it to eleven]] by crying foul when a toy from a particular line is not incorporated into that line's promotional media. ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' may be the biggest example as, due to the then new CGI budget, it was far easier to make toys then to make TV characters, so a core cast was developed because LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters was just not feasible. Years later, the rest of the toyline got a comic series.

* ''WebVideo/ThePhilipDefrancoShow'' has a spinoff company, [=ForHumanPeoples=], that show creator Philip Defranco founded to sell its merchandise; it also does charity promotions and fan design contests. In 2013 the company got its own Website/YouTube channel.

--> ''Frontalot is in the tee shirt business.''
--> ''MC Lars is in the tee shirt business.''
--> ''Both of us, we’re in the tee shirt business.''
--> ''I thought we were musicians — what is this?''

* Shortly after ''TheSimpsons'' debuted, Bart Simpson was on virtually every product conceivable, to the extent that [[IconicCharacterForgottenTitle many people assumed the name of the show was "Bart Simpson"]]. The show mocked this on several occasions, for example when Bart said to Krusty "I'd never put ''my'' face on an inferior product".

* During the 1990s and into the early 2000s, Hasbro made figures based on several DC Comics, including the ''Legends of Batman'' line, which was a toyline based on ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'' or {{Elseworlds}} ideas; ''Superman: The Man of Steel'', which dealt with ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' and [[ComicBook/SupermanDoomsdayHunterPrey its aftermath]], ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfClarkKent'', and in Lex Luthor's case, his post-DealWithTheDevil incarnation after ''ComicBook/UnderworldUnleashed''; ''Total Justice'', which while not based on any particular storyline, reflected the then-status quo and gave characters like Kyle Rayner, Wally West, Connor Hawke, Huntress, ComicBook/BlackLightning, Dr. Polaris, Despero, and Parallax their first figures; and ''JLA'', a toyline based on ''ComicBook/JLA1997'' and later Creator/PeterDavid's ''ComicBook/YoungJustice''.

** While the first half of the Renaissance era films saw plenty of sales for their merchandise, the latter half was more hit and miss, with ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' merch quickly filling clearance racks after the film became a box office disappointment.