These films were not only lucrative at the box office -- the first "Spider-Man" brought in more than $800 million in worldwide ticket sales -- but have generated video games, clothing and other merchandise, giving their parent companies a steady stream of profits in an otherwise unpredictable business.
The boycott was visualised with stickers, posters and other merchandise giving the boycott and battle for justice a now iconic face and utilising the match day crowd to spread the message.
It's been a full day since I left San Diego and the moist throng of sweaty pop culture enthusiasts, but I'm still unpacking all of the merchandise I bought (and the merchandise given to me by studios eager to hawk their latest big-budget gambles), washing the party stench out of my clothes, and breathlessly pondering casting announcements, flashy trailers and plot reveals.
There has, in fact, been a gradual, but measurable, decline in the ratio of inventories to sales; that is, the number of weeks or months required to sell all of the nation's stockpiled merchandise given the sales pace at any given moment.
For the rest of us, designers and others are starting to offer such merchandise online — giving it bling by way of conductive thread, sensors, batteries and small microprocessors.
Besides insuring you're not ripped off by a mail scam, it gives you a chance to inspect the merchandise before giving up any cash.
These stoves, produced by "Apple China Limited", would likely be a hot seller in the official Apple merchandise store, giving Apple engineers and fanboys a humorous party conversation piece.
The 007 trademark became one of the most successful in merchandising history, giving birth in the 1960s to a spate of Bond-related products, from toys and games to clothes and toiletries.
Perhaps most important, though, this approach to liquidating merchandise has given retailers a new way to handle the product returns process, which, for many companies, is a snake pit of inefficiency.
"Vintage" or "old fashioned" is one thing; merely browsing through this so-called merchandise can give me a skin rash.
That sentiment is expressed on a lapel button that declares, "I Am the Like That Every Brand Loves," which is part of the merchandise being given away in connection with the campaign.
