In modern
Hollywood, it's expected that any movie with a huge budget that's expected to do huge numbers for a
major studio is going to have a bunch of crazy
merchandise behind its release. Action figures, candy and other various foods, play sets, costumes, posters and various types of toys.
That's where Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash breaks the mold. The online store, and its two locations in Red Bank, New Jersey and Los Angeles, California cater to a different crowd: fans of Kevin Smith's films, the interconnected View Askewniverse (and the non-connected Jersey Girl) and other films done under his production company's View Askew moniker.
That's right, merchandise for a group of films that most critics label as "independent films" and that have combined only averaged a little over $17 million per-film in their theatrical runs. Sound insane doesn't it?
Sounds that way, but it's not. Kevin Smith has used marketing genius to create what can be viewed as the Star Wars of small-money filmmaking in the marketing world. He's done so by realizing that fans of his "little films" are the same people throwing down too much money on action figures that break and the same crappy collectable with a different movie logo on it. Thus if you give them good and innovative products, they'll throw down the cash. While Kevin makes a decent amount of money on his films, he really hit pay dirt when he paved a new trail by marketing his movies to his loyal fans, who are quite rabid collectors apparently. He's proven that dialogue-based films with little to no star power that deal with a wide range of many human and social themes can be just as merchandise worthy as the flicks with the big-explosions, special effects, large-breasted women and A-list movie stars.
So kudos to Kevin Smith. He's earned the praise for rewarding a loyal fan base with great products: SNOOGANS wool caps, Jay and Silent Bob bobbleheads, a variety of inaction figures covering most of his films, Brotherhood of Dealers Union cards and the famous Buddy Christ Dashboard Statues...they're all at Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash. The place that’s proven that the little-films can have big-time merchandising.