Death Becomes Her - merchandising of Buffy the Vampire Slayer television program

Brandweek, June 8, 1998

Buffy hits the mall There's more than skeletons--and ghouls and undead types--lurking around in Buffy's closet. There's a whole lot of merchandising potential, insist executives at Fox, who are making final arrangements to roll out a line of licensed apparel and jewelry based on those worn by actress Sarah Michelle Cellar in her title role on The WB's Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.

The cult hit drama, which just ended its second season as one of The WB's top-rated shows, skewing heavily female in its appeal, had a limited amount of merchandise available during its early life, mainly logo items at Spencer Gifts and Musicland. But its loyal following, which initially took some Hollywood executives both inside and outside the studio by surprise, dictated a more substantial range of product. As early as this summer, a fashion line under the Buffy label will hit the shelves of mall-based young adult-targeted stores such as Hot Topic and Contempo. Along with the spaghetti-strap T-shirts and tank tops, Fox, the show's producer, also has licensees for purses, crucifix necklaces, candles and stake-shaped incense burners. A charm bracelet, with miniature versions of Buffy's arsenal of weapons, also is in the works. If sales are strong, the junior fashion line will expand to include skirts, jackets and jeans, all from Los Angeles-based licensee CPI. Can a Generation Y super-heroine translate into a viable "aspiration" for mall-hopping teen girls? "This consumer is a lot more sophisticated than a plain logo on a regular T-shirt," said Rosanna McCollough, vp-marketing at Fox Licensing & Merchandising. "We're aiming for that young, fashion-conscious girl. And we didn't just want to do goth; that would've been easy, but it's kind of passe." Example of things to come: tiny T-shirts, like those Buffy sports, with single words printed on them, good," "evil" and "slayer." The show's producers and wardrobe designers played a part in creating the products, which will rotate each four to six weeks, as required to hold the interest of shopaholic teens. The specialty trade is a perfect place for the line, McCollough said, for the same reason: quick turnaround. When it begins hitting retail, the Buffy product will be one of the few apparel lines based not on the celebrity herself, but on the character she plays. (Celebrities like Jaclyn Smith, Kathie Lee Gifford and Debbie Reynolds have made a cottage industry of hawking their own lines of cosmetics, haircare products and fashion, but under their own monikers. Few show's, Miami Vice excluded, have ever spawned branded fashion). Buffy's cast will appear on hang-tags, which may be customized for each retailer. It also will be one or the only products from one Hollywood studio to be sold at a competitor's retail shop. Per the show's TV home, Warner Bros. Studio Stores recently included some specially-created Buffy-label apparel at its flagship store in New York, with plans to sell it in as many as 40 locations in the chain. And if the line performs well, more stores likely will pick it up. The lifestyle line will be in full force at retail by fourth quarter, McCollough said, buttressed by ancillary lines in staple sci-fi/horror genre categories such as posters, role-playing games, collector figures and limited-edition lithographs, paperbacks from Pocket Books and comics from Dark Horse Comics, Halloween costumes and makeup from Cinema Secrets. CPI's adult-targeted fashion designs are worn by a host of celebrities, including Jamie Lee Curtis and Brooke Shields. Per the targeted nature of Buff, the company may even create some down-priced items based on its other lines to fit the Buffy-targeted junior consumer, said Les Samuel, CPI's vp/director. "Sarah sets fashion trends, and she doesn't salute any one fashion house," said Samuel. That allows us to create product that looks like what she would wear and does wear, and have people really believe it."