Blue Orange
Gone to Texas
This is probably aimed at the parents. I doubt Jaws would be that scary by modern standards, and the parents would probably see it and have a laugh, because it was scary by them.So, sometimes, the people who license media properties for spin-off merchandise make ... odd choices. Yes, odd is a nice, neutral word for it. I'm interested in knowing what the weirdest one that you've ever seen was.
This is the weirdest one I've ever seen. A Little Golden Book -- complete with the foil on the spine -- using a classic horror movie to teach the concept of opposites to children who were not even alive -- whose parents may not even have been alive -- when it came out. I found this in a London Drugs and read it with eyebrows raised, and can't remember much else that happened that afternoon.
(Note that accounts of stories printed on toilet paper are disqualified from consideration due to general grossness.)
I'd go for the D&D woodburning kit:
Brandification in Action
Take a good, long look at this image. That's the Official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Woodburning Set, released in 1983. Tim Hutchings recen...
grognardia.blogspot.com
This is in the 80s, way before any crossover between geek and crafts culture.