Advertising-Only Continuity

Wasn't the bad guy supposed to be a spiky fire-breathing turtle?

Merchandise-Driven shows need to have toy commercials. Otherwise they wouldn't be able to sell toys to the kids. But the toy manufacturers need to know what the characters look like, as well as the very basic premise, months in advance, so they can create the toys and have them on the shelves by the time kids see the series. The problem is that the plotline probably wasn't included.

Between constant rewrites and the meddling executives, a change in the story is made after the toy is. Or, alternatively, the franchise is a Long Runner and the manufactures know perfectly well what the plotline is, but end up changing around or fudging details to justify their toy line.

The changes could range all the way from a small but easily made mistake based on Common Knowledge, to something that would reach Fandom-Enraging Misconception among the dedicated fanbase. But the advertiser(s) didn't notice or didn't care, or they don't think the kids will. Particularly strange examples may even lead to Memetic Mutation among the fandom.

Note that this trope is not exclusive to toy commercials only — it could be ads for a movie, or a Hostess Twinkie. All that matters is that it takes an established property and changes it around to better shill its products.

This will probably involve Fan Myopia, but please try to make it understandable to even non-fans.

Compare with Show Accuracy/Toy Accuracy and Toyline-Exclusive Character. See Merchandise-Driven and Misaimed Merchandising for further examples.

---

Examples:

Anime and Manga

• A lot of the marketing for Digimon: The Movie refers to the Digidestined being kidnapped by an evil Digimon, which is a subplot from the third movie (the film was edited together from three Short Anime Movies) which was cut from the final product.
• Dragon Ball Z:
  • Krillin and Gohan summon Porunga on Namek with the Namekian Dragon Balls, and wish for three separate cars. Porunga denies them their wish, in place of one car with all three features — the Ford Focus.
  • Goten and Chibi Trunks summon a Ford Fusion. Piccolo, in awe, exclaims, "it's unbelievable."
• Sailor Moon: Usagi and Luna watch the constellations of Sagittarius, Libra, and the new Ford Fusion.

Comic Books

• Justice League of America
  • In Craftsman Bolt-On System Saves The Justice League, the Technician uses a Craftsman power drill to stop the Key and his robot henchmen.
  • In Subway/Justice League: Famous Fans, super villains are defeated by professional athletes teaming up with the Justice League, thanks to the delicious power of Subway.
• Marvel Universe
  • The Avengers:
    • In the comic Avengers: Heroes Arise, the Avengers team up with the Harley Davidson riding Road Force to rescue Hawkeye from a warehouse full of Baron Zemo's monsters.
    • Avengers, Featuring N.G.E.N. – Start Your N.G.E.N.S! #0 features the Avengers teaming up with Northrup Grumman’s Elite Nexus.
  • Captain America: In the Glaxo, Inc. sponsored comic Captain America Meets the Asthma Monster, the Asthma Monster fights with a weapon that causes asthma-like symptoms. Captain America fights the Asthma Monster's gang in Captain America: Return of the Asthma Monster.
  • In Combo Man #1, Rick Wilder eats a Combo after being zapped with energy, becoming Combo Man, a superhero with the powers and visual appearance of a combination of Marvel Comics heroes and villains.
  • Daredevil: In the Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association sponsored comic Daredevil vs Vapora, Daredevil fights a sentient humanoid cloud of gasoline vapor.
  • Fantastic Four: In the comic Fantastic Four: Trapped in the Data Vortex, the Fantastic Four go Inside a Computer System as the Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform helps thwart the data slowing efforts of M.O.D.O.K. and the corrupted data monster Datazilla.
  • In the Guiding Light episode "She's a Marvel", Harley Cooper of Springfield, Illinois becomes the superhero Guiding Light. She appears with a different origin in the tie-in comic story, A New Light, in an Intercontinuity Crossover with the New Avengers.
  • Hostess ads, about villains being defeated by Delicious fruit pies, were long considered non-canon in Marvel Comics, until the villain Icemaster was introduced in Thunderbolts, the villains Blow Dryer, Flame Thrower, Frizone, Goldigger and Impercepto were referenced in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four, and the villains Chairman, Demolition Derby, the Fly, Home Wrecker, Hotshot, Human Computer, June Jitsui, Larcenous Lil, Legal Eagle, Photoman, Printout Man, and Simon the Evil Swami appeared in Fin Fang Four Return!.
  • The Incredible Hulk: In the comic Sleepy's Hulk Custom Comic, the Sleepy's Man helps out the Hulk by fighting Nightmare.
  • Stories in the Marvel Annual Report series feature various characters fighting and discussing the corporate status of Marvel Comics for that year.
  • Spider-Man:
    • In an ad for a Magic Snake puzzle, Magna Mind, a thief, obsesses over solving a Magic Snake puzzle, and is stopped by Spider-Man.
    • In the comic book ad "The Amazing Spider-Man in the Free the Cap'n Mystery", Spider-Man confronts the Sogmaster, who had previously left Cap'n Crunch in prison in the Cap'n Crunch commercial "Tidal Sog".
    • In Spider-Man: The Mutant Agenda, the comic strip version of Spider-Man meets the X-men. Together, they take on the Hobgoblin and the scientist Landon, who is working on a cure for the mutant gene.
    • Spider-Man Fights Substance Abuse collects PSA stories including the anti-smoking story Spider-Man, Storm and Power Man, and the anti-marijuana story Fast Lane.
    • The 1995 Fleer Ultra Spider-Man Arachnophobias cards include the exclusive Puma and Rhino hybrid Claw-Hide, Doppelganger and Shocker hybrid Doppel Shock, Mysterio and Lizard hybrid Myzary, and Vermin and Vulture hybrid Scavenger.
  • X-Men:
    • In Uncanny X-Men at the State Fair of Texas, Magneto and Professor X attempt to recruit Daniel Wiley, the mutant known as Eques, at the Texas State Fair, though he is never heard from again.
    • Blockbuster's Special Edition Blockbuster Video Kidprint comic Be X-Tra Safe with the X-Men warns the reader not to trust costumed freaks.
    • The Stridex X-Men Marvel Collector's Edition comic introduces John Dee, a protégé of Magneto. The X-men convince him to join, and he is never heard from again.
    • In the X-Men/Captain Universe comic, the identity of Captain Universe is whoever ordered the comic book.
    • The X-Men Film Series tie-in comics appear to have their own continuity. The July 15, 2000 TV Guide comic features a shorter version of the X-Men story. X-Men: The Movie Special introduces the exclusive character Malcolm. X-Men: The Movie Prequel: Wolverine introduces a different Silver Samurai than the Silver Samurai featured in The Wolverine.
• Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: A tie-in comic used the pilot's name of Zoltar instead of Zordon, spelled Rita Repulsa's name with a second s and gave them all different last names (although Word of God would not confirm their last names till years later).
• Transformers:
  • A tie-in comic for the Beast Wars: Transformers video game shows a different version of the beginning of the series, placing it in an alternate continuity.
  • The Beast Within, a comic included in The Transformers UK Season 2, Part 2 DVD set, posits the existence of a Dinobot combiner. Given that the comic featured Transformers who weren't "born" until after other Transformers also featured had died, it was apparent that it wasn't set in any existing timeline.

Comic Strips

• The Addams Family: A 1994 commercial for Honey Nut Cheerios had Wednesday enjoying a bowl of the cereal when usually she has Bizarre Taste in Food like the rest of her family.
• Dennis the Menace (US): In an ad for Morning Funnies Cereal, Dennis is sitting on Mr. Wilson's porch when a Massive Multiplayer Crossover occurs. Characters from Beetle Bailey, The Family Circus, Funky Winkerbean, Hägar the Horrible, Luann, and Marvin invade the dining room, rudely eat cereal, and abruptly leave.

Fan Works

• Angel of the Bat in: Sinfully Delicious! is a spoof of the “delicious fruit pie” varietal of Product Placement in comic books. The presence of the first story’s villain, the Seraphim, back to evil while Cassandra is wearing her second Angel of the Bat uniform contradicts her receiving the costume just before their final battle and the sequel suggesting the villain was being successfully rehabilitated.

Films — Live-Action

• Back to the Future: Doc Brown shows up at the beginning of the music video for "The Power of Love," to apparently see a show that Huey Lewis and the News is putting on at a nightclub to promote a hit single from some new movie that's coming out. Just before the music starts, some of the concertgoers steal the DeLorean and travel through time.
• Back to the Future Part II
  • In 1989, two citizens of Hill Valley hijack a DeLorean time machine and end up in Hill Valley, 2015, amazed at the neon lights and new cars of the future. While searching for pizza, they are briefly confused by a passing hoverboarder wearing a skateboarding helmet. They shrug, before coming across a Domino's Hardware store. Because Domino's Hardware had been manufacturing automated trash cans by this time, confused, the two asked a local police officer where to find pizza. The police officer's visor displayed an electronic message, and an audio message, "Turn around guys." Turning around, they beheld a lavish multi-story Pizza Hut restaurant. Indoors, they began eating from a neon serving tray when a girl began complementing the two on their sense of retro 80's fashion. "Wow, nice look guys, very 80's!" Unfortunately, the two ended up taking the comment very personally before turning away from her.
  • People look at the world through very different glasses. Futuristic looking neon Solar Shades, inspired by the movie Back to the Future Part II, are worn by the pitcher, the batter, the catcher, and the umpire at baseball games, at graduation parties where students wear transparent neon graduation hats, at Pizza Hut restaurants while patrons are eating pizza, by Pizza Hut pizza deliverymen delivering pizza, and shaggy dogs. Drop by any Pizza Hut Restaurant and get a pair of futuristic Solar Shades, inspired by the movie Back to the Future Part II, only $1.99 with any Pizza Hut pizza. Collect a different pair each week while supplies last. Solar Shades from Pizza Hut. They're going like there's no tomorrow.
  • In the Back to the Future Part II Behind-the-Scenes Special Presentation, Back to the Future Part II director Robert Zemeckis admits the hoverboards in Back to the Future Part II were real hoverboards made by Mattel.
  • In "Marty McFly & Doc Brown Visit Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and the short film "Back to the 2015 Future", Doc and Marty bring attention to the absence of flying cars.
  • Back for the Future: In 2011, Doc Brown shows up at Lone Pine Mall and asks Bill Hader and Kevin Durant for some power-lacing Nikes. He's told that he's four years too early.
• The Batmobile from Batman (1989) and Batman Returns has OnStar, despite the potential risk of revealing Batman's identity.
  • Batman also enjoys Diet Coke to the point where Catwoman gets the last can from a vending machine just to troll him.
• In a Gremlins cereal ad, Gizmo holds a bowl of Gremlins cereal as if about to eat a spoonful. A child with enormous Gremlin-like ears opens the fridge, searching for milk. At the table, he eats a spoonful of cereal. A girl walks towards the sink, and turns, revealing she too has Gremlin-like ears. But when they eat their cereal, the Gremlin ears disappear. Gizmo, on the other hand, continues to lift his bowl of cereal, still acting as if he is about to eat a spoonful of cereal. Then, Gizmo, hiding in a small box, says, "Gremlin! Yum yum!" as the box suddenly closes.
• In one universe, Godzilla takes the train after a long day of smashing buildings so he can return home to his wife and daughter and spend the evening singing on his Hitachi karaoke machine.
• In an ad for Independence Day: Resurgence, the daughter of a War of '96 US Army veteran joins the Earth Space Defense. In an ESD enlistment ad, Technical Engineer is one of the ESD jobs being promoted. The ESD website offers enlistment in order to defend tomorrow, today, providing four training missions. In an ad in Britain, the Manchester United players are fighter pilots. In Japan, Banagher Links and Full Frontal comment on the alien attacks, and on movie posters, the Statue of Liberty is replaced with the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam.
• In Kung Fury, the trailer shows a Lazor Invader arcade cabinet, instead of Laser Unicorns.
• Marvel Cinematic Universe
  • A Coke Mini commercial features Ant-Man stealing a can of refreshing Coca-Cola from Dr. Bruce Banner's lab. The Hulk chases Ant-Man down the streets of Manhattan, causing severe property damage.
  • In an Avengers: Endgame ad, the GEICO gecko uses the Infinity Gauntlet to save people hundreds of dollars on car insurance.
• Star Wars
  • In a Japanese Panasonic commercial, George Lucas muses about exploring the universe while Darth Vader ignites his red lightsaber and moves closer to his right side, accompanied by two Stormtroopers. To George's left is Chewbacca, and in front are two Ewoks. Chewbacca looks to Darth Vader, who turns off his lightsaber, as George raises his right hand to shield his eyes from the brightness of the immense Panasonic dish looming over the terrain. A blue stream of energy hits the dish while two red lasers circle its circumference, arcing around the blue stream of energy. George levitates a glowing egg shaped object from his right hand to his left, stating, "Panasonic. Itsumo something new."
  • In another Japanese Panasonic commercial, an X-Wing flies away from the Death Star as George Lucas films with an enormous camcorder. C-3PO comes to life, and the camera focuses on a set full of Star Wars models behind a walking AT-ST. George Lucas moves his focus to a model of Jabba the Hutt moving his eyelids. On the set, R2-D2 and C-3PO move and beep around George. Levitating a glowing egg shaped object with his right hand, he declares, "Itsumo something new."
  • In another Japanese Panasonic commercial, George Lucas stands amidst a wheat field, wearing jeans and a black shirt. He stands, arms folded, then moves his arms behind his back, crossing his hands, left hand firmly settled in his right. Walking in the field, he extends his right hand and is accompanied by an Ewok on his right. A second Ewok appears at his left, and a third in front, walking with him to a group of three Calamarians, C-3PO, R2-D2, Chewbacca, a Gran, and Darth Vader surrounded by two Imperial Guards, and seven Stormtroopers. The crowd applauds at George Lucas.
  • In another Japanese Panasonic commercial, George Lucas introduces his creation, "Sparky." Sparky, a robot, waves his right arm and says, "Sparky." Sparky approaches a VHS player and pushes a VHS tape, labeled "Sparky + R2-D2", into the player. A non-physical screen appears in mid-air, showing R2-D2 following Sparky. Sparky looks at the screen and turns the fast forward dial. On screen, Sparky and R2-D2 appear to travel faster, until Sparky launches from his three underside thrusters, leaving his three-wheeled rolling platform. Sparky's forehead glows with bright green sparkling lights. Later, George stands to next to Sparky. Sparky says, "Panasonic," and again, his forehead begins to sparkle with bright green lights.
  • In another Japanese Panasonic commercial, two Stormtroopers help George Lucas to film inside a Portal Picture depicting Samurai life in ancient Japan. They stand on a boat, as a battle takes place. Darth Vader nods in approval. Later, George Lucas watches the scene on a television, and chuckles to himself.

Live-Action TV

• The cast of 3rd Rock from the Sun dance to "The Time Warp" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, to announce yet another changed time slot.
• Big Bad Beetleborgs had a commercial which claimed that the bad guys and the borgs were aliens from another planet, when they were actually kids who wished to become the comic book heroes, the Beetleborgs.
  • Another Big Bad Beetleborgs commercial had generic mutants represent their enemies.
• In a CW ad, the Green Arrow fires an arrow. The Flash catches it. Oliver replies, "Show off." In another ad, The Green Arrow and The Flash ride up an elevator. They enter a superhero/supervillain fight club where there are no rules. Canary, Arsenal, and Dark Archer are listed on the roster. They fight.
• Power Rangers
  • A Power Rangers Zeo commercial gave the villain's name as Queen Machina instead of her husband, King Mondo, and had the rangers operating out of the original command center when they were actually operating in the underground Power Chamber.
  • There was also the "Zeo Serial", a set of teasers that played at the beginning of MMPR reruns in the lead-up to the Zeo premiere. It's notably out-of-continuity with the actual show, with a much longer period of time after the Command Center's destruction and no sign of the Rangers (Zeo or otherwise). Each teaser would end with a bit of the extended Zeo logo animation; by the final one, the entire logo had been revealed.
  • A Power Rangers Time Force commercial had the Big Bad, Ransik, searching for the Power Rangers with a Time Machine, when it was the opposite way around, and the rangers constantly mentioning the evil Cyclobots as the reason they went back in time. In the actual show, Cyclobots are Ransik's Mecha-Mooks.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • In Operation Blue Line, April O'Neil reports on the RTD Metro Blue Line opening between Los Angeles and Long Beach. April asks the Turtles to help fight against the evil Gridlock.
  • The Coming Out of Their Shells tour included a Pizza Hut promotion, cassette tape, VHS tape, live concerts, a pay-per-view show, and appearances on Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee, Larry King Live, and the Oprah Winfrey Show. With the power of live music, the Turtles defeat Baxter Stockman and Shredder's attempt to steal all the music from the world using the De-Harmonic Convergence Converter device. This tour was followed by the Getting Down in Your Town tour, featuring Casey Jones, armed with a water pistol, shooting at kids.
  • In We Wish You a Turtle Christmas, the Turtles sing modified Christmas songs, and give Splinter a gift.
  • In Turtle Tunes, the Turtles hang out in the park and sing, while picking up garbage with kids.
  • In an ad in Germany, Raphael walks into a men's locker room, and goes full frontal.
• USA Network had a set of commercials crossing over their various shows; Adrian Monk and Johnny Smith are each thankful the other doesn't want to shake hands; Johnny and Shawn Spencer debate who has the worse past; until they notice Monk counting his food; etc.
  • When USA Network showed Lorenzo Lamas in Renegade and Highlander The Series, a carefully filmed Duncan Macleod and Reno Raines exchanged quips about their situations; Duncan is 400 years old, Reno has some socks that are over 20 - till it ends with Duncan's katana slashing the front wheel on Raines' motorcycle.
• In the Xena: Warrior Princess toyline from Toy Biz the back of the box summary referred to her as a princess by birth. In the actual tv series she was a peasant and Warrior Princess was an honorary title. The toy synopsis also makes no reference to her evil past and only says she fights for Truth and Justice making her seem far more like a Distaff Counterpart to Hercules.

Magazines

• Playboy has featured several fictional characters as centerfolds, though the canonicity of their appearances are unlikely.

Radio

• Radio ads may feature a licensed character advertising a product or service, such as Mater from Cars. These ads may be targeted only to local areas, and may air too briefly to draw much attention.

Theme Parks

• Universal Studios rides and attractions such as The Adventures of Conan, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk Coaster, Star Trek Adventure, and Waterworld: A Live Sea War Spectacular may feature stories with no effect on the source material, while others suggest that their story is the official sequel or continuation, such as Back to the Future: The Ride, E.T. Adventure, Shrek 4D, and Terminator 2 3-D: Battle Across Time, despite never being mentioned outside of the theme park.

Toys

• After the success of Aliens, many different Alien related action figures were released with little or no connection to the original film, including the alien-animal hybrids Arachnid, Boar, Bull, Cougar, Crab, Gorilla, Mantis, Panther, Rhino, Scorpion, Snake, and Swarm. The most ridiculous example was the Alien King; how it's involved in the alien reproduction system is a mystery.
• Most BIONICLE ads and promos fall under this:
  • The comic panels from the building manuals of the 2003 Bohrok-Kal toys detail the events of that arc in a different way than the actual comics and the book. In these panels, the Kal rob the Toa of their elemental symbols one at a time, but the Toa continue to possess their powers until the symbols are placed into the Nuva Cube, which is guarded by Exo-Toa mechs. In the canon, all the Toa immediately lose their abilities when the Kal take all of their symbols, the Cube is actually a lock for the Bohrok queen's prison, and the Exo-Toa are wrecked when the Kal enter the Cube's chamber.
  • The 2006 series infamously had the characters interact with real life, most notably in the "Free The Band" promo where the Piraka kidnapped the band The All-American Rejects, engaged in cartoony hijinks in their "gangsta" style clubhouse, while the cheesy "Piraka Rap" blasted in the background. This was of course in stark contrast to the canon story, which was especially dark and serious, and had no real life influences whatsoever. Most other 2006 media, such as online games, online videos and the game BIONICLE Heroes also had very little to do with the canon plot of the comics and books beyond some general similarities.
  • The Toa Mahri ads that showed some sort of machine attaching their masks and gills before they go underwater. While one of the books explained that the machine was just cleaning them up, the Toa Mahri's gills are supposed to be a permanent anatomical feature, and they couldn't even breathe air at the time the commercial took place, yet their submarine was clearly filled with air.
  • BIONICLE (2015) put great focus on various heroes losing their masks to villains: the 2015 Skull villains wear them and drain their power, whereas the 2016 Beasts poison them. In the actual story, this only happens to two masks in 2015, and none in 2016. The mysterious Golden Mask of Skull Spiders and Umarak's red mask variant have also never appeared in the story, though the former was most likely canon.
• Many Italian commercials for Dragon Ball merchandising in the early 2000 showed Goku screaming "SUPER TRANSFORMATION!" in order to transform into a Super Saiyan.
• The existence of Environment Specific Action Figures often causes this to happen, where the merchandiser fails to take the character or plot into consideration. Such as The Flash using a Flashmobile, or Batman wearing a green costume in Gotham city.
  • Special mention goes to the line of Street Fighter G.I. Joe figures Hasbro put out in the 90's, which included things like high-tech vehicles and weapons despite the entire premise of the games revolving around hand-to-hand combat.
• LEGO had different continuities in catalogues, TV ads, comics… In LEGO Space, Unitron was apparently supposed to be the good guys fighting Spyrius. In commercials they ended being the victims of Spyrius' loots. In LEGO Castle catalogues showed Willa the Witch and Basil the Bat Lord as allies, while in comics he was a good knight fighting an evil witch.
• In the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero commercial for the Super Trooper mail-in toy, Lt. Paul Latimer the Super Trooper performs a Super Window Jump through a glass ceiling while holding his rifle, immediately landing and pushing aside a Cobra soldier dressed in black with his right hand, then turns to punch another Cobra soldier behind him with his right hand again. He rushes through a room full of cardboard boxes with the Cobra logo marked in red to his left, and oil drums to his right, intercepting a Cobra soldier who he immediately pushes through a wooden wall. He enters the next room and back hands a Cobra soldier aside with his left hand, then smacks another Cobra soldier with his left hand again. Surrounded by laser gun fire, the Super Trooper holds on to his rifle and rushes through a warehouse of stacked cardboard boxes. He narrowly dodges a laser blast and aims his rifle at a Cobra soldier, then arrives at the stairs and ducks under another Cobra soldier jumping over him. He grabs a shield, and begins blocking laser blasts, then dodges a punch from an oncoming Cobra soldier and bashes him with his shield. At the top of the stairs, he kicks another Cobra soldier with his left leg, sending him tumbling downward. He bashes a Cobra soldier with his shield in his right hand, then swings his rifle in his left hand to smack a Cobra soldier over the railing. He raises his rifle and shield to the air in triumph, screaming a mighty scream.
• Godzilla
  • The Godzilla Force toyline by Trendmasters is about a Power Rangers-esque hero squad sent in to stop Godzilla's attacks. While there was no live action show, the toy commercial shows a live action depiction of the Godzilla Force.
  • The Trendmasters toyline Godzilla Wars Power-Ups shows Godzilla, Rodan, MechaGodzilla, and Mecha-King Ghidorah wearing enormous suits of armor with projectile weaponry.
• Hot Wheels, Matchbox and Micro Machines release accurate versions of ships and vehicles from a licensed series, and also release four-wheeled Thememobile vehicles for characters who have no reason to be driving, such as characters from The Avengers, Star Trek and Star Wars.
• The commercial for a line of "battle-scarred" Gundam action figures featured the RX-78-2 getting rescued from the Zeong by... the GP-02 Gundam Physalis, which wasn't built until some three years after both of the former units fought each other, to say nothing of what happened with the GP-02 itself.
• Marvel Cinematic Universe
  • Instead of Black Widow, the Avengers Quinjet from Avengers: Age of Ultron has Captain America riding a motorcycle in the Hasbro version, and Iron Man riding a motorcycle in the Mattel version.
  • The Captain America: Civil War commercial for the Titan Hero figures shows Hulk in the team during the fight with Crossbones.
• Power Rangers:
  • In one of the earliest Power Rangers toy commercials, Zordon called for the Rangers to morph by saying, "It's Transforming Time!"
  • All of the toys, promo art and tie-in comics released during the original run had the Rangers wearing costumes that included logos of their respective dinosaurs on their chests. This idea eventually made its way into Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. Also, Goldar had wings (in the premiere he had them briefly; they weren't there when he was made to grow to fight the Zords in the climax, or ever again in season one - outside a blink-and-miss bit of Stock Footage Failure from the Japanese version in an episode that was All Just a Dream anyway. Yeah, he got his wings back in season two, but in season one, "Why does Goldar have wings in EVERYTHING but the actual show?!" was a question for the ages right alongside the power coin symbols on the suits.) While Goldar's situation was corrected by a change to the show character instead of the toys, MMPR suits with chest symbols remained confined to the Non-Serial Movie, and MMPR toys that actually look like the MMPR suits only debuted this side of the turn of the century.
  • In Power Rangers Time Force toy commercials airing during the series, Ransik has a never-elsewhere-seen sidekick instead of any of the other actual villains.
• The RoadBlasters Matchbox toys and playsets had their own story about Turbo Force fighting the Motor Lords, with some very different vehicles than the arcade game, such as the Vehicle Armor Redesign and Modular Intelligence Transport.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)
  • The original toy line featured certain themes without much story beyond an Action Figure File Card and the imagination, including Astronaut Turtles, Birthday Turtles, Cave-Turtles, Cyber Samurai Turtles, Dino Turtles, Dwarf Donatello, Pizza Tossin’ Ninja Turtles, Rock'N Rollin' Turtles, Sewer Spitting Turtles, Sports Turtles, Stretching Turtles, Sumo Turtles, Superhero Turtles, Wild West Turtles, turtles based on the art of comic book artist Jim Lee, and turtles with a sort of Intercontinuity Crossover between Star Trek: The Original Series, Troll dolls, and Universal Monsters.
  • The Kung-Fu Tournament Fighters toyline was a tie-in In Name Only to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters, with an Action Figure File Card and appearance unrelated to any of the three games.
  • The "Mutations" toylines have transformations from mutant form to human form, turtles transforming into oversized turtles, or in the "Mighty Mutations" series, a dump truck.
• Spider-Man
  • The Toy Biz Arachniphobia toyline includes the Lizard/Man-Spider hybrid Man-Lizard, Hobgoblin/Spider-Man hybrid Spider-Goblin, and Morbius/Venom hybrid Vampider.
• Toy Biz:
  • The '90s X-Men toy line includes Apocalypse with a large crystal sceptre, Archangel with projectiles fired from the tip of his wings, Cyclops in his X-Factor outfit with a battering ram, and Juggernaut with a battering ram.
  • The Talking Heroes line includes Cyclops, The Hulk, Magneto, The Punisher, Spider-Man, Venom, and Wolverine with large metal boxes worn on their backs.
  • The Sentinel Test Robot is a Sentinel exclusive to the X-Men Water Wars line.
• Happens all the time in Transformers. Sometimes it's relatively minor, like a movie Jazz figure recolored as an homage to G1 Jazz being explained in his bio as having been revived by Ratchet, or Beast Machines quietly expanding the small band of surviving Maximals and Megatron's Vehicon Army. Other times it's more complex, like how the early Beast Wars toys' bios set up the series as a direct continuation of G1 on modern-day Earth, with Optimus Primal and Megatron being the same characters as G1 Optimus Prime and Megatron (which would later be contradicted by the TV series). In extreme cases, such as the current Kre-O sub-line, on-package bios and commericals may be the only fiction available. By the time of the War for Cybertron trilogy, package bios have been ditched for the most part, with online promotional descriptions still giving fiction for the products, and sometimes bonuses such as cards that come with Kingdom toys that feature various possible futures for the characters, or Legacy including codes that allow access to online bios.
  • TFWiki.net likes to invoke this when Hasbro applies the Transformers brand name to transforming toys made for a different franchise, such as Star Wars, which makes for amusing pages where the editors pretend to genuinely have no idea Darth Vader has been in anything else.
  • TF Wiki takes it a bit more seriously when it comes to packaging bios. See, if it's officially produced material it's not 100% dismissable, even if it's so not what happened in the show. These tidbits - where again, like Kre-O, maybe it's all we have on a non-show character - are called "micro-continuities." In a corner of The Multiverse, events like movie happened and also NEST has a squad of Autobots and non-feral Allspark mutations we didn't know about helping them fight the 'cons (Several non-sentient vehicles in the films have transforming toys whose packaging gives them something akin to Flavor Text. By TF Wiki rules, while these vehicles actually being these characters is not true in the movies themselves, it may constitute a "micro continuity" where the plane Optimus jumps out of is Stratosphere, the truck that Mikaela used to get an injured Bumblebee out of harm's way is Longarm and did it himself, a bike seen in Mikaela's garage is Brimstone, at least one Sector Seven dune buggy is Dune Runner, etc.)
  • TF Wiki has cataloged an extensive list of commercials, most featuring their own continuity. Perhaps they depict multiple skirmishes that went unseen on the show:
    • The Dinobots fight the Predacons who combine into the Predaking.
    • The Autobot Springer loses his shuttle, lands on Planet Junkion, and fights the Junkion Wreckgar, echoing their encounter in The Transformers: The Movie. Here, Wreckgar is implied to be working for the Decepticons.
    • The kid who turns into Ultra Magnus or Galvatron at the end of the commercials was retconned into being the result of Reverse-Pretender technology.
    • The "Electric Train and Battle Set" depicts a battle between blue and silver non-transforming robots, utilizing a series of train cars turning into a Hawkfighter jet, Proton Laser Cannon and Weapon Center.
    • The Cybernet Space Cube appears between scenes in Generation 2, being the only difference between the original episodes.
    • In a Beast Wars McDonald's ad, a boy and an adult man stare at a McDonald's restaurant as it transforms, unaware of the kids inside, playing with Happy Meal toys. With the restaurant fully transformed into a giant robot, the man exclaims, "Cool!" while the boy quizzically asks, "But where's the door?" A panel with a McDonald's logo opens on the robot's torso, revealing a giant Ronald McDonald, who exclaims, "Did somebody say McDonald's?"
• There were things in the Jurassic Park toy lines that didn’t tie directly to the films. There have always been dinosaur species produced that weren’t in the films and dinosaurs with different paint jobs. Early on, the colors weren’t known and some toys were modeled after book dinosaurs, like the Kenner red rex. Later, there were the Dino Trackers, who were trying to capture the escaped dinosaurs. Evil trackers also were made, probably inspired by the hunters vs gatherers in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Then there was Chaos Effect, a storyline that was meant to inspire a TV show but never did. It had the scientists creating hybrids.

Video Games

• In an Acclaim ad, a kid playing with the Acclaim wireless remote for the NES flips back from his chair as a pair of arms from WWF WrestleMania attempt to grab at him, then is pushed by strong currents of air as he hangs on to the chair, then dodges a monstrous green spiked tail and back flips away, then flips the controller in the air, catches it, and shoots out lasers from the controller.
• Crash Bandicoot
  • A man in an Aku Aku mask is apprehended by police at a Piggly Wiggly convenience store.
  • A man in a Crash Bandicoot outfit drives a truck through Washington, loaded with television sets and PlayStation consoles, looking for Nintendo headquarters and a "plumber boy", eats at a diner and walks out, backs up the truck at night into Joseph J. Feldman's driveway and harasses him on a loudspeaker, harasses kids at a Pizza Hut with a loudspeaker and is offered a job, locates Nintendo headquarters and harasses the office with a loudspeaker until being escorted by security, goes through airport security and dumps out a bunch of inventory, tries to put a large item through an airport x-ray scanner, harasses Brad and his girlfriend at a movie theater with a loudspeaker with Sweet Tooth (as Needles Kane is named in this continuity) and Lara Croft until Brad is convinced to play PlayStation games with Lara, harasses a Martha Stewart expy with a loudspeaker on a lawn tractor with Sweet Tooth driving, takes motorbike lessons from Robbie Knievel, takes swimming lessons from world champion swimmer Mark Spitz and complains of shrinkage, takes skydiving lessons, drives a limo and attempts to pick up chicks, continues harassing an old woman from the same limo, participates in roller derby, gets a tank stuck in traffic and gets a ticket, interrupts a covert military mission and gets captured, harasses an injured patient at a hospital, and harasses an employee and a customer at a King Auto Supply store.
  • A man, in a Crash Bandicoot suit, without a visible face in the suit, harasses an ostrich, a wakeboarder, a motorbike racer, and a skateboarder, and is identified in a Police Lineup by a group of monsters.
• Dragon Quest: The NES ad shows a knight crossing a river on horseback. The player character does not ride on a horse, and cannot cross water unless there is a bridge.
• In an Ecco the Dolphin ad, a Jacques Cousteau expy recalls spending time with Ecco while on an expedition.
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
  • An Elliot expy approaches a gazebo at night when an E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial box is mysteriously tossed at him. He picks up the game, and plays it with his mom on the Atari 2600.
  • During Christmas, a bright light shines through the window of a house decorated for Christmas. The front door opens, and a short extraterrestrial wearing a Santa outfit comes in from the snow, alerting the dog. The extraterrestrial points at a Christmas present under the tree and opens its wrapping with telekinesis, revealing E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600. Inserting the game into the console, the extraterrestrial nonchalantly begins playing. The dog notices a boy and girl emerging from the bedroom door and walking down the stairs with great anticipation.
• Final Fantasy
  • In a Final Fantasy VI ad, Mog is a casting director looking to find only the toughest monsters. In a Japanese ad, Terra appears in Shibuya, riding a Magitek armor and tearing up the street.
  • In a Final Fantasy IX ad, Zidane, Garnet and Vivi run through the streets, chasing a magical Coca-cola bottle cap that activates a fireworks display.
  • Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning joins the Louis Vuitton fashion family, becomes a Louis Vuitton ambassador, models for the Louis Vuitton Series 4 campaign, and is interviewed by the The Telegraph.
  • Ads for Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire show the main cast involved in some impressive city-wide siege battles.
• In a Joust ad, a man plays Joust on the Atari 5200 while a caged bird starts chirping. Two knights mounted on large birds emerge through the walls and joust. An egg appears. The man transforms into a vulture person.
• Kirby
  • In a Kirby's Dream Land ad, Kirby is compared in a superhero contest to "Dashing Super Guy". Kirby inhales his entire body, and spits him out as something horrible.
  • In a Kirby's Adventure ad, Kirby flexes his muscles in front of body builders, tosses a man out of a saloon in a black and white The Wild West, engages in Flynning on a staircase, travels in a tornado in a black and white hurricane, eats a man alive, and imposingly emerges out of a giant television screen in front of a gathered crowd of onlookers in a black and white world, before merging into a colored image of Kirby's Adventure on the over sized television screen.
  • In a Kirby's Avalanche ad, a man undergoes a police interrogation to identify a pink marshmallow man that forced him and his friends to play Kirby's Avalanche.
  • In a Kirby's Dream Land 2 ad, Kirby, Rick, Kine, and Coo are scowling tough guys roughhousing some Hell's Angels.
  • In a Kirby Super Star ad, a kid undergoing body expansion is rushed to an emergency room for TMK, Too Much Kirby. The doctors roll him into an observation room with others who have their bodies similarly expanded. The nurse pops one of the kids with a needle, and he flies around like a balloon.
  • In a Kirby: Canvas Curse ad, Kirby has a relationship with an enormous finger.
• The Legend of Zelda
  • In a The Legend of Zelda ad, a man dressed in a black outfit insanely calls out "Zelda" and the names of enemies while in a prison cell.
  • In a Zelda II: The Adventure of Link ad, a man dressed as Link goes through a live action labyrinth and encounters a screen from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. He waves his arms and yells out, "Zelda!" A giant game box drops from the ceiling, and he disappears.
  • The infamous Japanese The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past ad where Link rescues Zelda and confronts Ganon through the power of hip-hop choreography.
• Lily's Garden is infamous for this. While the actual story of Lily's Garden is pretty bog standard as far as romance games and match-three games go, the commercials are a Hotter and Sexier smorgasbord of drama, raunchiness, swinging, and some rather absurd situations.
• Metal Gear Solid
  • Snake has a codec conversation with the Colonel about the Ford Focus SE for driving around Shadow Moses Island.
  • Snake fights Psycho Mantis after hearing the specifications for the Ford Fusion Titanium.
• In a Metroid ad, a man in a futuristic suit plays Metroid with the NES Advantage controller while sitting on a large chair. His television set teleports him to a world of action packed flips and dodging.
• In a Mischief Makers ad, two kids enter a taxi. The taxi cab driver starts insanely ranting about elements from the game, and turns to reveal eyes from Animeland. Both kids run out of the cab. A boxed copy of the game is on the dashboard.
• Mortal Kombat has Mortal Kombat: Live Tour, a live martial arts stage show about retrieving a magical amulet from Shao Kahn.
• In an ad for Pac-Man cereal, Pac-Man turns into Super Pac-Man, equating the eating of Pac-Man cereal with being a ghost chomper, demonstrating his own ability to chomp ghosts.
• In a PlayStation 2 ad, in 2078, the PlayStation 9 spheroid opens to send electronic spores to tap directly into the adrenal gland. Features improved retinal scanning, a mind control system, and telepathic personal music.
• In a Puzzle & Dragons ad, a man enters a subway car, finding a crowd of people backing away from a fierce dragon. The man holds up his arms in a defensive stance, with his smartphone in hand, blocking the dragon's fiery breath. By playing Puzzle & Dragons on his smartphone, he enchants someone with blue energy, who charges at the dragon and is singed by a second blast of the dragon's fiery breath. He enchants a skateboard with red energy, held by a woman wearing red, who charges forward with red skateboard in hand, enchants a pizza box held by a man wearing green, who has a woman hold the box as he throws enchanted green slices of pizza, and enchants the purse of an elderly woman, who swings her yellow enchanted purse about wildly, and their combined attacks defeat the dragon. After the battle, the five who participated in the battle sit next to each other on the subway seats, hanging out.
• Here are some The Simpsons examples...
  • In a The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants ad, Bart is told to go to bed, but stays up and plays Bart vs. The Space Mutants in his room while struggling with a blanket and ignoring screams from Homer.
  • In a follow-up, Bart continues to play Bart vs. the Space Mutants during the day before switching Game Paks to The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World. He continues playing until Homer barges in and silently forces him to go outside and mow the lawn. Bart suddenly stops, pulls out a Game Boy, and plays The Simpsons: Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly until Homer reappears and snatches it away. Bart eventually returns to his room, only to find Lisa, Maggie, and Homer playing his video games.
• Most of Splatoon's promotional material on social media, as well as general game updates, comes from the "Squid Research Lab": a collection of humans who secretly analyze the culture and behavior of the various races within the games' world and present their findings in a lighthearted, conversational tone. Outside of a clothing item in Splatoon 2 (their signature lab coats, Cool Shades not included), they have no trace of existing in-game. This is particularly notable because Splatoon is set long after humanity went extinct, so... where exactly are these Buffy Speaking scientists hiding?
• Spyro the Dragon:
  • Several ads for the first game have a burnt sheep going around town telling people Spyro is a menace. (Note that this does actually tie into canon, oddly: the sheep is the first boss, Toasty.)
  • Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! has what looks like stop-motion snowmen from a holiday commercial. One commercial pulls back to reveal that Spyro has torched a snowman's head off because he made the mistake of Bullying the Dragon, literally. Another in a parody of The Blair Witch Project, a snowman is talking into his camera while running from Spyro, who caught him at the end. Another has expies of Davey and Goliath, the Davey-expy is bothering Spyro while the Goliath-expy warns him not to, Spyro then head-butts the boy and torches his butt.
  • In a Spyro: Year of the Dragon ad, Spyro is attacking Japan.
• Super Mario Bros.
  • In an early Mario Bros. ad, Luigi, in his red plaid shirt, drops his plunger on the floor of an industrial plumbing facility and avoids enemies coming out the pipes. Exasperated, Luigi calls out, "Mario, where are you?", as a giant crab claw grabs his right arm. He runs through the facility and calls out again, and the giant crab claw grabs his neck. Another claw emerges from a pipe and presents both the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200 versions of the game. Luigi retreats into a pipe, raising a white flag in surrender.
  • In a Nintendo Cereal System ad, Mario hops on three children whose heads become television sets, and they become Trapped in TV Land, going through Stage 1-1 of Super Mario Bros.. Mario encounters some sprites, and they become marshmallows, while the kids find Link in The Legend of Zelda and call him Zelda. Link encounters some sprites, and they become marshmallows. One kid devours a spoonful of cereal while racking up points in his glasses. Mario jumps around a table showing a nutritious breakfast. Mario jumps around the kids, who are eating cereal with their television set heads. Mario hops on to the front of the cereal box and Mario and Link return to their respective worlds.
  • In a Dr. Mario ad, a man with a shrunken head sings David Seville's "Witch Doctor" while flashing back to the Witch Doctor he encountered, who is also singing David Seville's "Witch Doctor". Both the NES and Game Boy versions are in the Witch Doctor's hut. Both the man and the Witch Doctor play against each other with two Game Boys connected by a link cable. The Witch Doctor jumps out of his hut and starts dancing and chanting as a bonfire explodes. The man explains, after beating the Witch Doctor at the game, the Witch Doctor shrunk his head. Obviously, none of this is part of the game itself.
  • In a Super Mario Bros. 3 ad, a large crowd of people dressed in blue, white, black, and red chant "Mario!" as Mario's face is visible from space, covering much of North America.
  • In an ad for the Yoshi puzzle game, Yoshi rampages through the city, casting a large shadow on the streets. Yoshi turns out to not be that tall. Then, a Goomba, Blooper, Boo, and Piranha plant compress into an egg, and Yoshi hatches out of the egg. Yoshi finds a kid on a park bench, and the kid says, "Hey, Yoshi!"
  • In a Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins ad, Wario's Hypnotic Head convinces the audience that he is the master, and Mario is the enemy. Wario convinces the audience not to let Mario collect the six golden coins or reach the palace. Wario's Hypnotic Eyes convince the audience to obey Wario, and destroy Mario.
  • In a Yoshi's Island ad, a man, eating at a diner, engorges himself and re-enacts that one scene from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life.
  • In a Japanese Super Mario RPG ad, three piranha plants emerge from a city rooftop and start dancing and singing.
  • Mario drives through a Mario Kart 8 course in a Mercedes-Benz GLA SUV, steps out into realistic resolution, and watches Luigi slip on a banana peel, or Peach jumping over a green shell.
  • Mario drives a Mercedes-Benz GLA SUV through Stage 1-1, steps out in realistic resolution, and dies from coming into contact with a Goomba. In Super Mario Maker, this is referenced with a Costume Mario.
  • One ad for the Nintendo Entertainment System itself featured Princess Peach being abducted by... The Evil Alien Tatanga? Peach and Tatanga never appeared in a single game together (only one manga story based loosely on Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins).
• Tetris
  • In a Game Boy Tetris ad, a man in a futuristic metal suit points his finger and shoots a laser, teleporting in a teenager playing Tetris on the Game Boy. The man in the suit hooks up head phones to his helmet, and with his own Game Boy, plays a furious Button Mashing link cable battle against the teenager, who looks up and smiles at the man, firing a laser blast from his finger, as the man disappears in a blast of energy.
  • In a NES Tetris ad, in a doctor's office, a child doctor recommends a Tetris shot. An Opera lady sings "Nintendo", causing a building to collapse. In a classroom, a student explains the nature of a Tetrizoid. Tetris pieces fall on Isaac Newton's head. A kid button mashes furiously on an NES controller.
• In a Wizards & Warriors ad, while a kid is playing Wizards & Warriors, Kuros opens the door to his room, stabbing at some monster from the forests of his world. He raises his sword and shouts, "triumph is ours!" as a tentacle reaches into the room. Kuros urges the kid to play Ironsword, preparing him to face the evil Malkil. Kuros leaves the fate of the world in the boy's hands, and goes back through the door to his own world. When the kid opens his front door, he finds his dog, and a mysterious puff of smoke.

Western Animation

• Captain Planet and the Planeteers: The Planeteers combine their powers to summon the Ford Focus Electric.
• In a Chex cereal ad, three ghosts harass two children who run to Casper the Friendly Ghost. The kids explain to Casper that the ghosts took their Sugar Chex. Sure enough, the ghosts are indoorss, pouring a bowl of Sugar Chex and laughing. The two children peer in through the window as Casper explains, "I'll get your Sugar Chex back." The box of Sugar Chex rises in the air, and the ghosts, startled, bump into each other and run away. The two kids and Casper now sit at the table, dining on Sugar Chex. Casper explains that Sugar Chex are frosted, that Casper's image may be found on the box, and that the box may contain a prize inside.
• The Flintstones
  • Fred and Barney's love of Winston cigarettes is never acknowledged on the show.
  • Fred's longstanding grudge against Barney, for taking reasonable quantities of Fruity Pebbles and/or Cocoa Pebbles cereal, which Fred is quite possessive of, in order to survive and thrive in the Stone Age, as part of a peacefully coexisting tribal community, has not been well documented on the show, where Fred's hard working family man personality is exemplified.
• Ghostbusters: At a grocery store in the city, closed for the night, an employee stocks the shelves. Dancing to the Ghostbusters theme playing on his headphones, the employee carries a box of Hi-C towards an aisle full of Hi-C, where there is another box full of Hi-C. The employee sets the cardboard box he was carrying down on the floor and reaches towards the box. The box opens by itself, a glowing green light emanating from it, as Slimer bursts forth, and the employee screams. Then, Slimer screams, and backs up into the shelves of Hi-C, knocking over cans of the stuff as the employee trips and falls back over the stack of boxes. Remaining on the floor, the employee, with one foot resting upon the box, sips Hi-C among the rest of the Hi-C drink boxes scattered about, and exclaims, "Wow!"
• In a GEICO ad, He-Man, Teela, Man-At-Arms, and Battle Cat confront Skeletor. Teela asks Skeletor why they should not vanquish him to another dimension. Skeletor replies that switching to GEICO could save hundreds on car insurance, and flies off in a futuristic bat-winged jetpack.
• Hanna-Barbera
  • In a Corn Flakes ad, Huckleberry Hound is accosted by a fox wearing a hat, resembling Fibber Fox. The Fox tries to sell Huckleberry on the benefits of the box, bringing up a map of the United States and mispronouncing various states, drawing a comparison to grains and pilgrims, placing a pilgrim hat on Huckleberry. Somehow, Huckleberry is sold on this sales pitch.
  • In a Rice Krispies ad, Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey are filming a scene together. Quick Draw pulls a dummy of Quick Draw to the edge of a cliff and says, "In this scene, Baba Looey, we have a knock-down Western-style battle over this box of Kellogg's Rice Krispies," holding a box of Kellogg's Rice Krispies aloft. Baba Looey replies, "You mean that Snap, Crackle and Pop cereal?" "Right!" replies Quick Draw, telling Baba Looey to throw the dummy of Quick Draw over the cliff. "I gotcha, Quick Draw!" says Baba Looey. Baba Looey grabs Quick Draw by the arm, instead of the dummy, and swings him back and forth onto the ground. "Take that, and that, and that!" he says. "Is time for the dummy over the cliff?" asks Baba Looey. "Right!" says Quick Draw. "Hooray!" says Baba Looey, tossing Quick Draw over the cliff. But he looks at the dummy, and says, "Uh-oh, the wrong dummy." He turns back to the edge of the cliff and yells, "I'm sorry, Quick Draw!" But Quick Draw, while falling, is holding a box of Rice Krispies of cereal. "I'm not!" says Quick Draw, "I got the Rice Krispies! And I got sometin' to say about 'em!" He looks down at the approacing ground. "But I'll have to talk fast. I haven't got much time." While continuously falling, Quick Draw describes the nutritional value of Rice Krispies, ending with, "Rice Krispies, the world's only talkin' cereal!" Landing on a branch protruding from the cliffside, Quick Draw continues, "And they say," and the branch begins to snap, then crackles. "Crackle," he continues. But the branch breaks completely, sending Quick Draw slamming on to the nearby ground. Quick Draw raises his head and says, "And kaboom!" Seeking to regain his composure, he finishes with, "I mean, pop."
  • In a Corn Flakes ad, Top Cat appears behind a wooden fence, eyeing a police officer conversing on a telephone, carrying a grocery bag with a box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes. As the officer hangs up, he turns to see Top Cat standing on a box, positioning his hands in the shape of a screen as if he is a film director. Top Cat woos the officer with promises of fame. Meanwhile, a cat appears with a makeshift fishing rod made of a broom. Three more cats appear, solidifying the illusion of a film production set. One of the cats slaps the officer with an enormous powdering pad, creating an explosive poof of makeup. Top Cat reaches through the makeup cloud and snatches the box of cereal and holds it as if still filming for the make-believe camera. Top Cat asks if the officer likes Corn Flakes, and the officer says, "I do!" Top Cat says "Cut!" Thanking the officer for his participation in the commercial, Top Cat walks away, and the officer thanks Top Cat, and walks away with his grocery bag, then shakes his head and snaps to, realizing his box of cereal is missing. The group of cats now sit at a table next to the fence, enjoying bowls of Kellogg's Corn Flakes. The police officer walks up to table, grabs the box of cereal, placing it back in his grocery bag, and asks Top Cat if he is being paid for this "commercial." The powder makeup cat returns, slapping powder on the officer, leaving another cloud looming upon the officer's head. Top Cat yet again reaches into the makeup cloud and takes the box from the officer, walking away.
  • In an ad for OKs cereal, Yogi Bear eyes a box of OKs cereal, as it contains his likeness upon it. "Hey hey hey," he declares, "Kellogg's OKs. Note the improvement? They put a bear on the box! Which improves it so much, they decided to improve the cereal too." A narrator says, "Aw, come on, Yogi. Let's be serious about Kellogg's new OKs, okay?" Yogi dons an astronaut helmet and replies, "Like the space bears, eh, a-okay." The narrator explains oats are the richest in proteins and other body building essentials. Yogi ponders this, holding a handful of oat plants and flexing his bicep to demonstrate his strength. Bored, Yogi attempts to eat the oat plants directly, but is scolded by the narrator. Yogi grabs a box of Kellogg's OKs and pours the cereal into a bowl, then pours milk over the cereal. "They're crispier," says the narrator. "Ah-ah," corrects Yogi, "cripsier!" "Cripsier" says the narrator, "and toastier. And therefore, tastier than ever." Again, Yogi holds up a handful of oat plants, and a box of Kellogg's OKs, saying, "The one with the bear on the box! Suitable for framin'."
• Looney Tunes
  • In an Alpha-Bits ad, Bugs Bunny relaxes by a tree and sings the Alphabet song while reaching into a box of Alpha-Bits cereal and throwing individual pieces into his mouth. Bugs declares he is crazy about Post Alpha-Bits. Nearby, Elmer Fudd emerges from his house and declares he was robbed. Bugs dons a makeshift officer's uniform consisting of a police helmet and a star on his chest. Elmer approaches Bugs, believing him to be an officer, and states somebody had taken his Post Alpha-Bits cereal, believing "that crazy wabbit" to be responsible. Bugs asks Elmer to describe Alpha-Bits in detail, and Elmer describes how the cereal includes all the letters of the Alphabet, made with real oats to make you strong and full of energy, and sugar sparkles to taste just a little bit better. Bugs unscrews a carrot top and holds it like a cone, dancing and singing as the words "ENERGY", "AEZ", and "O G" levitate above the cone. Elmer winks and makes a pinching gesture. Bugs nibbles on the end of the carrot, and Elmer attempts to grab the box, but Bugs kisses him on the cheek. Elmer walks away, saying "Cwazy wabbit," as what he has just said is spelled out in the air. As Bugs holds the box, the letters "A B C" appear, as he sings, "They're ABC delicious." Bugs states, "Ehh, get 'em quick like a bunny."
  • In an ad for Post Sugar Crisp cereal, Bugs Bunny is on stage, holding a box of Post Sugar Crisp cereal. Daffy appears from behind the curtain, saying to Bugs, "Psst, you're on, Bugs." Bugs says to Daffy, "Thanks, doc," and clears his throat, describing what Post Sugar Crisp cereal means to him : "Just think, I used to be a nine pound weakling," he states. Daffy walks on stage with a large wooden mallet, and attempts to bash Bugs over the head, but his ears send the mallet bouncing back towards Daffy, sending Daffy crashing through the wooden floor. Bugs states, "But now Post Sugar Crisp gives me the muscles of wheat," flexing his bicep. Daffy emerges from the hole in the floor, a cracked board on his head, and points with his thumb at bugs, stating, "Muscles in his ears, yet!" Bugs explains how the wheat in Post Sugar Crisp cereal makes him big and strong, flexing his bicep yet again, as Daffy emerges with an even larger mallet, and slams it against bugs' hand while he is still flexing. But with no effort, the mallet cracks into pieces. Bugs states, "So get strong, like me. Get Sugar Crisp." Daffy and Bugs hold the box of Sugar Crisp and present it together, singing a song as they make pinching gestures in the air. Daffy then recites what he believes is an amusing poem, about how Sugar Crisp can be eaten as a snack like taffy, and how for breakfast it is "Ducky like Daffy." With no reaction from the audience, Daffy takes offense and points to himself, reiterating, "Ducky like Daffy, get it?" "Sure they get it," says Bugs, holding a "Treat Pak" containing boxes of Sugar Crisp, Alpha-Bits, and Corn Flakes.
  • In a Trix cereal commercial, a Trix cereal commercial plays on TV. The Trix rabbit is wearing a trench coat. As always, the kids deny the Trix rabbit any form of sustenance. Bugs Bunny, watching the commercial on TV, turns off the television. It occurs to Bugs that the Trix rabbit requires a trickier disguise. Bugs calls the Trix rabbit, creating a Split-Screen Phone Call, though Bugs steps easily into the other frame and speaks to the Trix rabbit directly, offering assistance in acquiring some Trix. The Trix rabbit immediately begins feening for some fruity Trix, describing all the fruity flavors. Bugs is perplexed as to why there is no carrot flavor, and hands the Trix rabbit a carrot, though the Trix rabbit seems further perplexed. Bugs takes some measurement with measuring tape, and whispers a plan to the Trix rabbit. In part 2, Bugs outfits the Trix Rabbit in a Paper-Thin Disguise intended to fool the kids into believing the Trix rabbit is really Bugs Bunny. The Trix rabbit, wearing his outfit, hides behind a tree and stalks the kids silently. He walks up to them as they are eyeing Trix cereal, and proclaims that he is Bugs Bunny. The kids say "Wow!" and ask him to sign their box of Trix. The Trix rabbit provides a signature on the box, stating, "Sure! Us rabbits love Trix." But, true to form, the Trix rabbit begins jonesin' for those Trix, and backflips out of his costume, yelling, "yippee!" As the Trix rabbit reaches for the box, the kids yet again deny the rabbit the basic right to consume food. Bugs watches the ordeal on TV, and turns off the TV before the commercial can finish. He relaxes at the pool, on a pool chair, enjoying his own box of Trix. Relaxing with a bowl of Trix cereal, he lays back on a cushion, stating, "I prefer a happy ending."
  • In a Post cereal ad, Wile E Coyote And The Roadrunner have yet another chance encounter. Wile E. Coyote watches the Road Runner through a pair of binoculars. The Road Runner carries a box of Post Beep Beep Cereal. Wile E. Coyote chisels stone to make a wheel, and attempts to use leverage to position the wheel along a slope. Using both hands, he pushes the wheel over the edge, almost intersecting the Road Runner's trajectory as the Road Runner travels the road. But the wheel travels along the underside of a cliff, curving back towards Wile E. Coyote. Sure enough, it smashes the coyote into the dirt, and he emerges dazed, with a chunk of stone upon his head. The Road Runner continues travelling off-read, still carrying a box of Beep Beep Cereal. Approaching a makeshift table made of stone, with a bottle of milk and a bowl and spoon conveniently placed atop it, the Road Runner stops by it, screeching to a halt, and begins to pour milk and cereal simultaneously into the bowl. The Road Runner devours a spoonful, and continues onward, carrying the box of cereal off-road, then down a winding, curving road. Wile E. Coyote, not deterred, uses a can of black paint and a paintbrush to paint a black hole on a rock face by the road. The coyote quickly constructs an archway of brick, and positions a Detour sign pointing to the illusory tunnel. The Road Runner travels through the tunnel, and the coyote bangs his paws against the painted surface, as a train emerges from the tunnel, and chases him across the dirt. The Road Runner, outside, poses with a box of cereal and continues running down the winding road.
• The Mighty Max toy line says that Max inherited his magic cap from his father. In the show, his dad is never mentioned and Virgil sent him the cap in the mail.
• In an Alpha-Bits cereal ad, three mice are being held captive by a villainous cat, who threatens to throw the mice into a cauldron as soon as it becomes sufficiently hot. The cat leaves, vowing to take a nap. One mouse escapes his bonds, and approaches the dining table, grabbing a handful of Alpha-Bits cereal. He explains to the other mice that he will spell out the word "Help" in a cereal bowl and summon Mighty Mouse. Releasing a bird from its cage, the bird carries the bowl away in a napkin. Soon enough, Mighty Mouse appears, breaking through the wall and joining in on devouring Alpha-Bits cereal, pouring three bowls for the mice and explaining the nutritional benefits of wheat and sugar. Just then, the villanous cat returns, and Mighty Mouse tosses him into the cauldron, explaining how the cereal's sugar has helped given him the extra energy to perform such a feat. Mighty Mouse pours cereal to the mice, each letter miraculously falling in alphabetical order, as the mice triumphantly sing a modified version of the Alphabet song. Now standing outside next to a tree, the mice continue to sing as Mighty Mouse pours letters coinciding with the lyrics of the song, and flies away as an owl watches.
• In a Cheerios ad, Charlie and Franklin are at the beach, carrying surfboards. Charlie explains to Franklin he must lift the board before beginning to surf on it. Franklin appears too tired to lift his board. Charlie reprimands Franklin, stating he should have eaten Cheerios for breakfast for a boost of energy. Having set up a place setting atop a cooler, shaded by a beach umbrella, Franklin enjoys a bowl of Cheerios as Snoopy sunbathes in a lawn chair nearby. Franklin surfs a massive wave with great enthusiasm, catching up to Charlie and surpassing him, sending a smaller wave splashing on Charlie. Charlie, now jealous, states, "Beginner's luck."
• In an ad for Pink Panther Flakes cereal, The Pink Panther pours Pink Panther Flakes into a bowl, and pours milk on top. However, the Pink Panther image on the front of the cereal box comes to life and reaches outside the box, grabbing a spoonful of cereal and taking two bites, munching down on the cereal. The Pink Panther, angered, grabs the bowl from the box art come to life, and the box art Pink Panther grabs back, pulling the bowl of cereal towards him. Soon, there is a tug of war. The force of the tug sends the box of cereal and the box art Pink Panther careening out the window. The Pink Panther looks in astonishment, then runs out the room and down a flight of stairs as the box of cereal falls through the air. The box art Pink Panther pulls out two fans and waves them rapidly, attempting to create enough air resistance to break his fall. He lets go of the fans and the box continues to plummet. The real Pink Panther runs down two more flights of stairs. Meanwhile, the box art Pink Panther opens an umbrella to create further air resistance, but the umrella immediately collapses, and the box continues to fall. Just in time, the Pink Panther exits the building and stands in front of a cement mixer, raising his arms to catch the box, but he is facing the wrong direction. The box falls behind him and into the cement mixer, splashing into the wet cement. The Pink Panther reaches into the cement mixer and pulls out a brick of dried cement, then pulls out a pencil from his pocket and draws a line, bisecting the rectangle, then picks up a mallet and smashes the cement block, causing it to split perfectly into two halves, its inside hollowed and containing the cereal box. The Pink Panther grabs the cereal box, and draws jail bars over the image of the Pink Panther on the box. The box art Pink Panther grabs the bars and shakes them so angrily, the box begins to shake, but it is no use, as the Pink Panther sits back and enjoys his Pink Panther cereal. The box art Pink Panther makes one more attempt to grab at the cereal bowl, but his reach is blocked by the bars, and the Pink Panther greedily pulls the bowl away, turns his back, and gives a nasty look to the Pink Panther on the box. With his back turned, the Pink Panther enjoys the cereal solely for himself.
• In a Cheerios ad, Bullwinkle is at a bowling alley, asking if bowling is a fun sport. Attempting to utilize the bowling ball, Bullwinkle moves backwards and sends the ball into the wooden floor beneath him, as he falls down into the hole. Bullwinkle emerges from the hole on top of a construction worker holding a wrench. Somehow, Bullwinkle is holding a box of Cheerios while a bowl and spoon rest on his crossed legs. Sitting atop the construction worker's head, Bullwinkle pours cereal into the bowl, eating without milk. An offscreen hand attempts to offer a bowl of corn, which Bullwinkle tosses aside. Another hand appears, offering a bowl of rice, which Bullwinkle tosses aside. Another hand appears, offering a bowl of wheat, which Bullwinkle tosses aside. Bullwinkle flexes his massive bicep, revealing a Cheerio shape inside that is causing his bicep to grow ever larger. Now, Bullwinkle jumps from the man's head and dances back further, twirling the ball in his right hand while holding the cereal box in his left. Bullwinkle runs forward as if to bowl, then stops, holding the cereal box, explaining how the General Mills logo could spell out "Go" if a Cheerio is added in front. Bullwinkle continues preparing to bowl, then runs and trips, launching himself down the bowling lane, crashing through a brick wall, leaving an Impact Silhouette. Bullwinkle reappears through the hole with Instant Bandages on his snout, as a brick falls on his head, dazing him.
• The Simpsons: The Simpson family tends to eat wholesome, home cooked meals. Outside the show, the Simpsons family proudly declare their hoggish love of brand name foods and other products in multiple languages. The Simpsons have appeared in commercials for 1-800-COLLECT, Baseball ads, ads for Coca-Cola, Burger King, Butterfinger, Church's Chicken, Domino's Pizza, Intel, MasterCard, Nike, Ramada Inn, Ritz Bits, Subway, T.G.I. Friday's, Toyota, Universal Studios Florida, and Wonderful Pistachios in the US, CC's Chips in Australia, KFC and Teletoon in Canada, Papas Margarita potato chips in Columbia, Kangoo car dealers in the Czech Republic, Vizir detergent in France, Sabritas Lay's potato chips in Mexico, Doritos in the Netherlands, Channel 4 and Sky 1 stations in the UK, No Problemos cereal in the UK, Japanese commercials for C.C. Lemon soft drinks, and ice cream at the Mister Donut fast food restaurant in Japan.
• In a Cartoon Network ad, the Superfriends go to the movies and decide how they will pay for snacks and drinks. In another ad, they team up with The Powerpuff Girls.
• Ads for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cereal featured the Turtles using their Ninja Nets. Those Turtles. Always using their Ninja Nets.
• In an ad for Frosty O's, Tennessee Tuxedo and Chumley apprehend a crossdressing bald eagle, removing his wig and kicking him out of his own home. Tennessee Tuxedo holds the box of Frosty O's cereal and the wig in his other hand and leans out the window, scolding the bald eagle. "Sorry Baldy, Frosty O's are for breakfast!" The bald eagle closes the window blinds on Tennessee Tuxedo, sending the box of cereal into the air as it lands in the eagle's hands. Tilting his head back, Baldy says, "Frostyriffic snacking, too!" and pours Frosty O's in his beak. Chumley watches the eagle and declares, "shaped like sugar-frosted donuts. Frosty O's."
• During an intermission, Tennessee Tuxedo and Chumley light fireworks and sparklers. A voice announces, "The first half was brought to you by..." A billboard appears, showing the stylized "G" of General Mills. The announcer continues: "The big G cereals of General Mills, makers of the Goodness Pack for your choice of goodness." Next to the G is an image of the Goodness Pack, showing four cereal boxes. But Tennessee Tuxedo and Chumley have already lit a rocket, and are still holding on to it as it goes off, being carried forward and through the billboard, crashing through the G symbol.
• In a Cheerios ad, Dr. Simon Bar Sinister zaps Cheerios with a ray gun, turning one individual Cheerio at time into a hole-less piece of cereal he dubs a "tiddly-wink". Sweet Polly Purebred reports on Bar Sinister's plan to take the O's out of Cheerios. Seeing the news report on televison, Underdog leaves his Cheerios breakfast at the table and flies away, crashing through his apartment building and soaring towards the Cheerios factory, just as Bar Sinister approaches with his ray gun in hand. As Underdog approaches the mad doctor, the audience is Left Hanging, informed that buying a box of Cheerios will in some way provide the resolution to the story.

---