MishM*A*S*H 22: Licensed Product Kit

By the end of the M*A*S*H series run, the show had been successful in ratings, won dozens of awards, and had performed well in retail sales. There were countless licensed products for M*A*S*H that were sold beginning in the 1970s and through today. The height of the product popularity, however, was the early to mid-1980s. It seemed that just about anything a company could create related to M*A*S*H would sell. And 20th Century Fox Television encouraged the merchandizing because they would earn revenue from licensing fees. So it was in Fox’s interest to get as many retail stores to carry M*A*S*H merchandise as possible. This week’s item is a licensed product kit from 1982. This was sent out to retailers by Fox to advertise and generate interest in M*A*S*H products. There is a lot to this kit, so let’s dig in!

Licensed Product Kit

The front of the brochure has a dog tag with the M*A*S*H logo. There are five pages of material pitching to retailers why they should sell M*A*S*H merchandise in their stores. The show’s awards are highlighted. So is its popularity with men, women, teens, and children. The popularity of the cast is touted. The shows success in primetime and syndication is applauded. And one line says it all, “The bottom line: M*A*S*H: The most powerful program in television history for over a decade.” There are some very interesting stats quoted as well. At the time, M*A*S*H was the #2 rated show on television. The series reached about 224 million people weekly. It was shown in some markets up to 16 times per week. The show was #1 in many of the key demographic groups. And Alan Alda was ranked #1 rated male TV performer out of 150 (Mike Farrell and Harry Morgan tied for 5th and Jamie Farr was 7th). Loretta Swit was ranked the #5 television TV performer out of 125. The series definitely had the public’s attention.

The goal of this brochure was for retailers to be able to capitalize on the show’s popularity by advertising the products that were officially licensed by Fox. We’ll get to the actual products in a moment, but one of the most interesting offers in brochure was the Point of Sale Survey. The survey was to gage interest in special M*A*S*H display items in retail settings. The coolest item was a 72 inch tall replica of the sign post. There was also a proposed smaller 24 inch version. The survey makes it clear that this was only a survey and “NOT an order for point of sale material.” So, I wonder, was any of this material ever produced for retailers? I would love to have a six foot tall replica of the sign post!

Products

In a pocket, at the middle of the brochure, there are individual brochures for the products themselves. Each company with an official M*A*S*H license had a one page flyer (sometimes double sided) advertising their M*A*S*H merchandise. There was a wide variety of items available including toys, clothing, beach towels, a calendar, posters, tote bags, greeting cards, bedding, and there was also a flyer for David S. Reiss’ book M*A*S*H: The Exclusive Inside Story of TV’s Most Popular Show. The number of available products is overwhelming, but M*A*S*H was a very successful show, so there was demand for anything M*A*S*H related at the time. There are other items that I know of that aren’t even in this kit, but I think they were released as the series ended or shortly after to capitalize on the success of the finale. (Learn more about the M*A*S*H licensees in this post about a 1981 Licensing Conference Kit.)

When movie or television series is successful, it usually spawns a line of licensed merchandise. M*A*S*H was no different. This licensed products kit was 20th Century Fox Television’s way to ensure that the products it licensed made it into retail stores and into the hands of M*A*S*H fans, and based on the number of times I’ve seen several of these items for sale on the used market, I would say many of these M*A*S*H products sold well! This kit is one of those items that likely was not saved by retailers, but I am glad someone saved this one so we could get a glimpse into the process behind advertising licensed products. I do have a few of the items from this kit in my collection, but I do not typically focus on the licensed products. Do you have anything featured in this kit? Did you have something that you wish you still had? Share in the comments below or on social media!