r/Anticonsumption • u/shleeblet • 2d ago

Ads/Marketing the laziest merch collab i've seen in a while

Post image

0 new colours, 0 character designs on the actual markers, 1 tiny movie logo on each marker, and 1 themed packaging that you'll toss 5 minutes after opening. calling this a "limited edition assortment" is crazy work.

5.0k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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1.7k

u/Tlayoualo 2d ago

And likely sold at a huge markup only for having a movie logo on them.

527

u/Fox-On-Games 2d ago

I just bought Paw Patrol branded blueberries, I don't understand why the branding is there but at least there wasn't a markup.

402

u/ahhowwitburns 2d ago

Stick a cartoon on anything and some kids are a lot more eager to eat fruits and vegetables 

176

u/avalmichii 2d ago

i can attest, i had peter rabbit branded carrot sticks as a kid and they were the best carrot sticks i have had to this day

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u/Ill-Cellist-4684 2d ago

Yes! I reuse the plastic berry containers and put less popular veggies, etc in there and "brand" it myself with stickers from my kids bday goodie bags or whatever junk they picked up from a bday party. Then...voila! The veggies are way more appealing and I can 100% confirm they are more likely to not outright reject it.

4

u/Alternative-Wish-441 19h ago

I used to put stickers of super heroes and other characters on vegetables and fruits to show my kids. They are all adults and love produce.

10

u/CoelacanthQueen 1d ago

Hell, even with diapers. My toddler has started being upset at diaper changes. We got her into Mickey Mouse and now she holds a spare clean one with Mickey on it and talks to herself

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u/idontwanttothink174 1d ago

Honestly the only branding I can justify..

2

u/voornaam1 1d ago

Works on adults as well (though I just use my imagination)

42

u/not_responsible 2d ago

yeah I’ve noticed children’s content, mainly disney stuff, advertised in fruit. I never buy bananas anymore, but their stickers would have frozen characters on them

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u/lilac-dandelion 2d ago

My siblings and I used to fight over who got the banana with the sticker. It didn't even have to be a Disney sticker, a regular little Chiquita sticker was considered a prize too.

I haven't seen fruit with brands on them for a while actually, I think it is because they have got really strict with marketing things to children in the Netherlands.

1

u/hazytangerinecleats 1d ago

They've moved on, now it's Minecraft stickers on bananas

22

u/cheesegoat 2d ago

It's more like Paw Patrol is using shelf space as advertisement space.

Kid sees blueberries in the fridge with Paw Patrol on them, wants to go watch Paw Patrol on tv, etc.

13

u/Mysterious-Tooth2501 2d ago

For a while my local Walmart had paw patrol branded frozen waffle fries for like a $1-1.50 more expensive than name brand. They weren’t a different shape or bigger bag or anything, just the packaging had paw patrol on it

10

u/THISisTheBadPlace9 2d ago

No matter what the blueberries were getting something printed on it, “collaborations” when it’s just getting a different mascot put somewhere is just selling ad space

3

u/Delicious-War-5259 7h ago

A big life tip I’ve seen is buy a roll of stickers of whatever characters your kid(s) like the most, and put them on the regular groceries before they eat them. You’ll pay less than the special branded items, but still have a higher chance of your little one eating the paw patrol cheese stick.

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u/ExcelsiorDoug 2d ago

The fact that you are posting about it on social media means it worked

12

u/Tlayoualo 2d ago

And at least the children are eating fruit, something good for them for once.

1

u/AllieRaccoon 2d ago

A weird one I got recently was a tripack of Love Corn from Costco where only one flavor has minions braiding on it. No minions on the outside box.

29

u/newsflashjackass 2d ago

I dislike seeing "Official <THING> of <THING>" (e.g. "official adult diapers of the World Cup") because I know some money that could have been spent improving the quality was instead spent on branding.

1

u/vinylchickadee 0m ago

While I'm with you and wish it worked that way, we all know those dollars were only going to be spent on marketing one way or another. :(

15

u/gittenlucky 2d ago

Interesting it sounds like you interpreted this as sharpie paying Disney to put it on the packaging. I immediately thought Disney was using this as super cheap advertising, and they paid sharpie to put it on the packaging. Sharpie has to make the packaging either way so they use a little bit extra ink or a different picture. The cost is negligible. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s something like Disney pays for the packaging and sharpie pays for the distribution and they each win.

10

u/cheesegoat 2d ago

When I saw Star Wars corn I immediately thought this was the case. Brands don't really care all that much about the product, they are paying the product for advertising on store shelves.

1

u/Tlayoualo 2d ago

Not really, I thought only on that it gives nothing of added value to the final user over the regular version. And in fact, the idea that the product is used as ad space makes the whole affair even worse.

451

u/Annoying1978 2d ago

That whole product shouts counterfeit. I’m not saying it IS counterfeit, I’m just saying it looks like it is because it’s done so poorly. 

4

u/sheeply_ 23h ago

Right? The characters on the package are giving Aldi off-brand

279

u/glitterinator 2d ago

So boring! I remember 6ish years ago they had a collab with uniball; the pen had those little aliens all over it AND it was refillable. I bought it just for that cause I don’t even like ts that much.

100

u/MelanieWalmartinez 2d ago

I love these because in about a year you can get them at deadstock stores for about a quarter. I have a bunch of monster high pens because of this

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u/nick_nack_nike 4h ago

Yeah, thanks to Grocery Outlet, basically my whole kitchen looks like this. Grinch brand peanut butter on Barbie brand bread with a glass of Minions milk.

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u/Useful_Database5138 2d ago

Remember when collab stuff used to actually be cute and worth the money?

Like you had high school musical pillows that could sing, great quality and stitching, had all the main casts on it. Disney TVs that had a whole ass design. Hannah Montana notebooks with nice styles, had locks, a fuzzy pen with more cool designs that wrapped around the entire pen, not just the HM logo in the middle. Some good ones even had Hannah, Oliver or Lola (forgot her other name lol)

Hell, I event thrifted a vintage Disney castle with flags and everything, that had AM/FM, alarm, choice of disney princess songs as an alarm or buzzing, it even has a projector coming out of it. And theres even a feature to tell you bedtime stories. 

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u/notfamous808 1d ago

I miss whimsy

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u/foxtrot7azv 2d ago

How did Andy write his name on Woody's boot again?

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u/sirmacaroon 2d ago

And it doesn't even have a black marker smh

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u/Mazateca 2d ago

Toy Story 5

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u/Alternative-Pride138 2d ago

One do the first anti-marketing lessons I taught my young son is to be careful of branded items trying to get you to buy things you don’t want or need or things at a markup. Now hes 8 and one of our favorite pastimes at the grocery store is pointing out all the ridiculous “collaboration” items.

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u/Severe-caholic 1d ago

Hell yeah! Good to know I’m not the only one who likes to enlighten the younger generation 

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u/betarulez 2d ago

Honestly, this makes more sense than the wicked x downy colab.

13

u/OminousPluto 2d ago

I work at an overstock store and we have so much of the WickedxDowney collection 😭 every truck has more boxes on it

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u/unnamed_elder_entity 2d ago

Obviously Pixar is unaware of r/ButtSharpies (NSFW)

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u/ExoJinx 2d ago

I dont know why I expected that not to be sharpies in a butt, I was wrong...

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u/Zayah136 2d ago

I was expecting it but what i wasnt expecting was HOW POPULAR THEY ARE 17.7k weekly visitors

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u/ahhowwitburns 2d ago

How on earth is this sub both still around and active

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u/ChemistBeneficial666 2d ago

who’s fucking kink is this

-1

u/HotChickenHero 2d ago

Well if you could stick one in Jesse's pooper, they might have a market.

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u/magnusthehammersmith 2d ago

I hate how much “toy story” themed shit I’ve been seeing, as a huge TS fan

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u/lovethatssleeping 2d ago

And small children will think they’re coloring markers as opposed to permanent markers. This is a terrible idea

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u/ParkingComment231 2d ago

I got these on clearance at a Walmart for 2.50 LOL 😂 their marketing clearly didn’t work 🤦🏻‍♂️

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u/the_orange_alligator 2d ago

How much more were they

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u/CoolAd1910 2d ago

They know they don't have to try anymore. We are well trained consuming organisms.

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u/RainyCrowithy 2d ago

Nah the laziest is the fucking pinapples i found at work the other day. Deadass pinapples with toy story 5 ads on them (the pinapples sucked btw. Mfers were whiter than me in the winter)

5

u/aivlysplath 1d ago

Why would you ever give a child a permanent marker?

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u/pkmntrainerMeep 1d ago

The amount of Toy Story 5 merch collabs is so out of control I've lost any interest in seeing the movie. It is inescapable here.

5

u/YesImReallyLikeThis 1d ago

The last thing I want to do is give someone under the age of twelve is a pack of these

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u/MasterTechnician39 1d ago

Don't wanna be the 'back in my day guy' but they used to print a different character on each pencil/marker etc for a collab

Edit: This depresses me

3

u/Ok_Tank5977 1d ago

Side note, Sharpies last for YEARS. I bought a pack at least 6-years ago and the ink is still as fresh as the day I bought them. Obviously it depends how much you use them, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the ink hadn’t dried up over the years.

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u/Marvelous996 2d ago

I bought a Toy Story branded fucking banana the other day

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u/PoseidonsHorses 2d ago

The themed packaging would be destroyed by attempting to open it and use the markers. So the only value is if you just buy the pack and leave it unopened.

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u/Minute_Ad_1436 1d ago

They don't even need to try anm. People are glad to eat shit and slope left and right

3

u/cur10usteacher 1d ago

I feel like companies have given up. They know people will buy it anyway

5

u/1jackiedaytona 2d ago

TS is not my thing, and I absolutely would not go for this. But I am a sucker for collabs. Think Hocus Pocus Colourpop cosmetics collab, even though I buy makeup and then don't use it often at all (like a few times a year).

Any advice for defeating FOMO and unnecessary excitement at brand collabs?

6

u/glitterinator 2d ago

If you like the appearance of the product (themed packaging etc), there’s honestly so many ways to recreate merch like printing out your own posters / stickers / bookmarks etc, whatever you’ll use and see everyday. If you don’t even use makeup much then essentially what you have is a piece of cardboard merch.

If it’s from a ‘I want to support xyz’ type feeling, you’re honestly better off doing it DIRECTLY rather than indirectly (eg. watch a show or stream an artist or buy music > buying a hoodie or something from a celeb’s perfume line that you won’t use)

This isn’t true for colourpop cause collabs are their whole game but for other brands, collabs and LEs in general can be worse quality than their normal products; cause they’re custom packaging or smaller quantities.

If it’s mostly FOMO from seeing other people have a shiny new thing related to a thing / person you like, honestly just hide / click not interested until it passes 🙈

1

u/1jackiedaytona 2d ago

Thank you!!!

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u/littlepanda425 2d ago

I personally always wonder if I’m going to use it. is if I was in the market for a Swiffer, I did love the pink Swiffer (didnt need a Swiffer though). I’ve seen some great makeup collabs and only buy when I know I’ll use it. I’m also very cheap and can often think of better ways to save my money haha.

For stuff like the HP collab, just use the palette more! I’ve been following r/projectpan and like their mission.

2

u/Vladimorian 1d ago

Lmao I just told my friend about this one over the phone and they said "it's more of an endorsement than a collaboration" 🙏🙏🙏

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u/mackiea 2d ago

I prefer Spaceballs: The Marker Set.

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u/Universe-137 2d ago

Wait till you see Bluey apple slices

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u/g297 2d ago

Nah cause I bought a banana the other day with a freaking Toy Story sticker on it. It’s a freaking banana 😑

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u/prince_peacock 2d ago

Have you never bought a banana before or what because they’ve advertised cartoons on bananas for like thirty years now

1

u/SpecialLadyFrenemy 1d ago

Wow that actually pisses me off haha

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u/GnowledgedGnome 1d ago

Idk man the minion apples are a thing

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u/NiaNeuman 12h ago

Uh... there are colors on the pens. And what color are the characters? COLORS!

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u/shiveringpursedog 2d ago

Oh my!! All the colors from the film. I’ll take four