16 Movie Tie-In Products That Made No Sense
Hollywood loves a good merchandising opportunity. When a blockbuster hits theaters, companies rush to slap movie characters on everything from action figures to breakfast cereals.
But sometimes, marketing teams get a little too creative, resulting in products that leave consumers scratching their heads. The marriage between movies and merchandise isn’t always a match made in heaven.
Here is a list of 16 movie tie-in products that completely missed the mark, making us wonder what exactly was happening in those marketing meetings.
E.T. Atari Game
The 1982 E.T. video game for Atari is legendary for all the wrong reasons. Rushed into production to capitalize on the film’s success, developers had just five weeks to create the entire game.
The result was so disastrously unplayable that thousands of unsold cartridges were famously buried in a New Mexico landfill, making it one of the biggest commercial failures in gaming history.
Fight Club Soap
Nothing says ‘anti-consumerism’ quite like buying soap inspired by a movie that explicitly criticizes materialism and consumer culture. Fox actually released Fight Club-branded soap shaped like human fat, directly referencing the soap-making process in the film.
The irony of selling merchandise based on a film that condemns selling out was apparently lost on the marketing team.
Like Go2Tutors’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Star Wars Lightsaber Barbecue Tongs
Want to flip burgers with the power of the Force? These lightsaber barbecue tongs let backyard grillers channel their inner Jedi while cooking hot dogs.
The product completely trivializes what’s supposed to be an elegant weapon from a more civilized age, turning it into something you use to move charred meat around a grill.
Dune Sandworm Slippers
The terrifying sandworms of Arrakis struck fear into the hearts of viewers, so naturally, someone decided they’d make cozy footwear. These plush sandworm slippers transformed one of science fiction’s most iconic monsters into something you’d wear while lounging around your living room.
The fearsome creatures that could devour entire vehicles were reduced to fuzzy house shoes.
Twilight Pregnancy Test
The Twilight saga featured a horrifying pregnancy storyline, which inspired someone to create Twilight-branded pregnancy tests. Nothing quite captures the romance of vampire-human love like checking for unexpected pregnancies while thinking about sparkly vampires.
This bizarre connection made absolutely no sense as a promotional item for the teen-focused franchise.
Like Go2Tutors’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Shrek Green Ketchup
Heinz released green ketchup to tie in with the ogre-themed film, encouraging children to squirt swamp-colored condiments all over their food. Parents everywhere were thrilled to watch their kids cover perfectly good meals with green goo that looked suspiciously like something that would come out of Shrek himself.
Appetizing wasn’t exactly the word that came to mind.
The Hunger Games Subway Sandwich
Nothing captures the spirit of a dystopian story about starvation and class warfare quite like a promotional fast-food sandwich. Subway partnered with The Hunger Games to create themed meals, completely missing the irony of using a story about hunger and poverty to sell food.
The marketing team seemingly skipped over the entire premise of the novels and films.
Jurassic Park Mosquito Amber Lollipops
These lollipops contained plastic mosquitoes suspended inside, mimicking the amber that preserved dinosaur DNA in the film. Children were encouraged to lick candy surrounding what appeared to be a blood-sucking insect—a concept that sounds more like a dare than a treat.
The creepy factor on these was exceptionally high, even for movie-themed candy.
Like Go2Tutors’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Aliens Colonial Marines Video Game
This game promised to be the authentic sequel to the Aliens film but delivered a buggy, unfinished product that barely resembled the promotional materials. The enemies moved like malfunctioning robots, environments looked unfinished, and the story contradicted the established lore.
After six years in development, the final product was so terrible that it prompted lawsuits for false advertising.
James Bond Cologne
James Bond is known for his sophistication, but the 007 cologne smelled less like “international spy” and more like “trying too hard at the office.” The fragrance attempted to bottle the essence of Bond’s charm but instead created a generic scent that missed the character’s appeal entirely.
Wearing it definitely didn’t give users a license to kill—perhaps just a license to be slightly forgettable.
Jaws Beach Towel
Nothing says “relaxing day at the beach” like spreading out on a towel featuring the terrifying shark that made generations afraid to go in the water. This tone-deaf merchandise encouraged beachgoers to lie down on an image of the very creature the film taught them to fear.
It’s like bringing a clown towel to a carnival after watching ‘It.’
Like Go2Tutors’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Avatar Na’vi Blue Tongue Candy
This strange tie-in product was a candy specifically designed to turn children’s tongues blue like the Na’vi aliens. Parents everywhere were delighted when their kids came home looking like they’d eaten something poisonous or suffered from oxygen deprivation.
The candy had nothing to do with the environmental themes of the movie but succeeded in creating alarming family photos.
Ghostbusters Green Slime Shampoo
This bright green shampoo allowed children to cover themselves in something resembling the ectoplasmic slime from the film. While the movie made getting slimed look disgusting and unpleasant, the marketing team somehow decided kids would want this experience during their bath time.
The product transformed shower time into a recreation of the film’s most revolting moments.
Back to the Future Pizza Hydrator
Universal Studios tried to bring the film’s futuristic food technology to life with a “hydrating pizza” that expanded when water was added. The resulting soggy, expanding pizza substance bore little resemblance to actual food and tasted about as appetizing as wet cardboard.
Some movie technologies should remain firmly in the realm of fiction.
Like Go2Tutors’s content? Follow us on MSN.
The Godfather Board Game
Nothing says “family game night” quite like a board game based on a film about organized crime, murder, and betrayal. Players competed to become the most powerful mafia family, which created awkward moments when parents had to explain to children why horse heads and garrotes were part of their evening entertainment.
Some films simply don’t translate well to the family game shelf.
Indiana Jones Crystal Skull Vodka
In a nod to the least popular Indiana Jones film, a company created crystal skull-shaped vodka bottles. The archaeological adventure series about finding historical treasures was reduced to an overpriced novelty liquor container.
Even Indiana Jones himself would likely pass on this particular artifact, especially considering the film it referenced was already hard enough to swallow.
When Marketing Meets Mockery
Movie merchandising reveals how studios try to squeeze every possible dollar from successful films, often with unintentionally hilarious results. These seventeen products demonstrate that not every aspect of a movie needs to be transformed into something you can purchase.
Sometimes the best way to appreciate a film is simply to watch it, rather than brush your teeth with slime or eat green ketchup in its honor.
Like Go2Tutors’s content? Follow us on MSN.
More from Go2Tutors!
- 18 Unexpectedly Valuable Collectibles You Might Have Lying Around
- 15 Things Every Teenager in the ’70s Did That Teens Today Wouldn’t Understand
- 15 Strange Things People Have Tried to Ban (And Failed)
- 15 Inventions That Were Immediately Banned After Being Created
- 20 Actors Who Were Almost Cast in Iconic Roles
Like Go2Tutors’s content? Follow us on MSN.
