While movie merchandise tie-ins and promotions had been around since the 1930’s, most of the time they were produced for films catering primarily to children, and even then mostly just for animated pictures. Most studios saw merchandising as an afterthought; in fact, Walt Disney Productions was the only studio regularly and successfully licensing merchandise and promotions before their films entered theaters. The biggest non-Disney Films that had successful merchandising often did it after the fact and only because the outside licensee approached the studio first. In 1989, Warner Bros. wanted to change this, and Batman would be the test case.
In an unprecedented move, Warner Bros. unleashed its merchandising department, typically just used to license Looney Tunes products, to proactively sign up Batman licensees. Initially, it was an uphill battle. While Batman the character was a known quantity, Batman the movie was not. McDonald’s passed on the film, but Taco Bell eagerly signed on. Taco Bell had been trying to shed its reputation as a just a cheap place to eat and it saw Batman as a way to do that. In addition to the direct cash provided by these deals, movies also benefit from the added promotion that the outside partner provides.
In another unprecedented step, Warner Bros. leveraged its portfolio of magazines to publish a catalog of Batman merchandise. People, Time and Sports Illustrated distributed millions of copies of the Batman-Themed catalog in their respective summer issues. Not willing to order from a catalog? No problem! Thousands of stores across the country featured Batman merchandise, most of it featuring the iconic bat symbol. There would be no way for anyone to escape The Bat in the summer of 1989.
With so much at stake, it was easy to see why Tim Burton was nervous about what would be the biggest film he had made up until that point. The expectations- and the possible embarrassment if it failed- were huge.
