| rdfs:comment | - The Merch is a cute cartoon character with a devastating past. He was created and rose to popularity sometime before the 1996 release of Sonic 3D Blast.
- Doing something creative costs money. If you're in a band, you're paying for gas to get to and from practice and gigs, studio time, and all the bits and pieces of tech you need to sound good. If you're an artist, you're paying for your materials and maybe studio space. Even if you're doing a simple webcomic, blog, or fansite you're paying for bandwidth. And, unfortunately, creative work doesn't pay very well until you're famous. And sometimes it doesn't pay very well even then. So what do you do to help support your habit creative endeavors? Sub Tropes: Examples of The Merch include:
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| abstract | - The Merch is a cute cartoon character with a devastating past. He was created and rose to popularity sometime before the 1996 release of Sonic 3D Blast.
- Doing something creative costs money. If you're in a band, you're paying for gas to get to and from practice and gigs, studio time, and all the bits and pieces of tech you need to sound good. If you're an artist, you're paying for your materials and maybe studio space. Even if you're doing a simple webcomic, blog, or fansite you're paying for bandwidth. And, unfortunately, creative work doesn't pay very well until you're famous. And sometimes it doesn't pay very well even then. So what do you do to help support your habit creative endeavors? It turns out just about everybody loves owning cute little tchotchkes. Ones that are branded with some obscure, indie-cred logo, image or phrase they like is even better. So, you start to sell stuff. T-shirts, pins, prints, CDs, and cards are the obvious choices. But mouse pads, coffee mugs, baseball caps, plushies, posters, babies' onesies, messenger bags, and refrigerator magnets all have their fans. In fact, anything that you can figure out how to stick a logo, character or catchphrase onto will do. That's "The Merch". The merchandise. The moneymaker. The stuff that pays the bills. And if this is for girls, the Pink Product Ploy increasingly is used. Sometimes The Merch becomes more important than the work it was intended to support. Sub Tropes:
* Detail-Hogging Cover (since it covers merchandise as well)
* Everything's Better with Plushies
* Fun T-Shirt
* Misaimed Marketing
* Official Cosplay Gear Contrast Merchandise-Driven, which covers instances when the creators of The Merch are the same people who have creative control over the show. If The Merch debuted in the work, then it's a Defictionalization that may or may not be in response to The Red Stapler effect. When merchandising works well enough, then we learn that Crack is Cheaper. Compare Toys. For more substantial tie-in works, see Tie-in Novel, The Film of the Book, The Anime of the Game, and Licensed Game. Examples of The Merch include:
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