Gross Effects - increased merchandising of South Park cable television program

Brandweek, June 8, 1998 by T.L. Stanley

Anal probes and other stuff from South Park The phone in Matt Kavet's office started ringing as soon as word filtered out that his novelty company, Boston America, planned to put Cheesy Poofs on the market. Kavet hadn't really anticipated the response he would get after he pitched, and sold, the Cheesy Poofs concept to Comedy Central, offering to reify the favorite snack treat of the lovable, foul-mouthed boys who star on the cable channel's red-hot animated series South Park.

"People say they want the product, sight unseen," said Kavet, the company's president. "Stores that don't even normally carry South Park merchandise have been calling." After approvals on the packaging, which will feature the show's characters, Cheesy Poofs should be ready to roll out this summer, with one caveat from Comedy Central and its licensing agent, Hamilton Projects: no supermarket, convenience store or mass distribution. No matter, said Kavet, because at $3.99 a box, he expects it to be a major seller. And because the cheese snacks are edible, he thinks it will be something unique in the novelty arena: a repeat purchase product. Cheesy Poofs joins a growing list of thematically wacky South Park stuff that will hit the market over the next several months: everything from inflatable furniture and cookie jars to desk accessories and collectible Figures, all for specialty and gift retailers. There are about a dozen licensees with product on the market, such as nightshirts, beenies and plush, and a few dozen more are working feverishly to get there. The cap will be set at about 40 or 50 total licensees, with no category duplication. "I wish we had product out there right now," Kavet said. "Retailers have been telling me that the sell-through is beyond belief." South Park, about eight months old, caught ratings fire straight out of the gate, in spite of its "mature audiences" (TV-MA) rating, becoming the highest-rated non-sports series on cable and drawing early attention of the licensing community. Execs at Comedy Central and Hamilton so far have kept a watchful eye on both the number of licensees and the products they develop, mandating a young though many a 12-year-old across the country can now be spotted in a South Park T-shirt. So far, the items set to launch this year run the gamut from cute and colorful (watches and clocks; polar fleece and flap caps) to complete]y crass (a pencil sharpener that "serves" as an anal probe for Cartman, "the fat kid"). Speaking of gross, Gemmy Industries is developing a sixinch animated Cartman for about $20 that blows soap bubbles out of his, well, you know. "We've already had a product that's a generic guy who blows bubbles from his butt and makes fart noises, and it's sold really well," said Chuck Chastian, Gemmy's marketing manager. "We'll see what the license can do for it." Playmates Toys, a company better known for baby dolls and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, is negotiating with Comedy Central with an eye toward a third-quarter launch of molded plastic figures with moveable parts, to be sold as sets under a Playmates subsidiary brand name, with warning labels that reflect the show's 1V-MA tag. The toy company is also hoping to launch a line of desk accessories, including a pencil holder where the pencils stab through the head of Kenny, the kid who dies violently in every episode. Though there's a flurry of activity, sure to get another boost next summer when the R-rated feature film version of the show is planned, the licensor wants to keep a good grip on the property. "We leave more licensing opportunities on the table than we pick up," said Joanne Loria, Hamilton's svp-licensing. 'We know we're disappointing people, but as a result, we think it'll have a longer life than a lot of entertainment properties." And Kenny, anyway, could use the longer life.