I stopped by a local 7-11 today, and saw that the same merchandising/hype effort the chain put into the IRON MAN movie is now going into moving tchotchkes related to the INCREDIBLE HULK movie that will be released on Friday the 13th. There were lenticular Hulk Slurpee cups. There were straws with little Hulk figurines on them. There were temporary tattoos, and stickers by the sheetfull. There were Hulk sandwiches. The store even had Hulk donuts, each one plastered with a photo-perfect portrait of the Jade Giant's cromagnin mug.
The one piece of merchandising the store didn't have that related to this comic book character:
Comic books.
Yes, the old spinner rack, center of many fond childhood memories, has been cast onto the junkheap of obsolescence. The 7-11's inventory of comics has been reduced to a few desultory scattered titles stuck onto the lowest shelf of the magazine rack.
7-11 forbid that they should actually feature comics starring the Hulk or Iron Man in a prominent place in the store. I mean, they might actually sell some and make some money. Who knows, they might trigger an ephiphany in some young Slurpee-slugger who realizes that there is such a thing as comic books; and that they are fun. They they might sell more comics, and make more money.
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