Buzzworthy | Community 3. Max Comedy Merch Subplot Season 3 of Hacks, the Max comedy about comedy, shines a light on fan-made merch. In episode 2, superstar comedian Deborah Vance – who also heads an eponymous merchandise empire on home shopping network QVC – gets very upset when a fan shows up outside a gig with an unauthorized “Saint Deborah” candle from Etsy. She demands that her business manager get to the bottom of it, and he meets with one of the creators, a fan who started making merch because he couldn’t find a Deborah Vance tour jacket in his size, so he made his own – and quickly sold out when he posted a few for sale online. The savvy business manager suggests that they bring him and other creators into the fold as a way to expand her merch offerings and further engage her fan base. Curiously, the HBO Shop (it hasn’t rebranded to Max like the network) doesn’t offer any Hacks merchandise – but there’s quite a selection on Etsy, Redbubble and other maker sites. IMAGE: Jake Giles Netter/Max 4. Promo Pen Goes Viral Thanks To TikTok Proclaiming it “the best pen you will ever use,” one delighted TikTok user posted a video sharing her love of the promo pen she received when she signed the lease on a new apartment, which set off a frenzy among online pen enthusiasts. Sam Hart – aka @thesam_show – tells how she found out the pen was available only in bulk as a branded promo product and successfully lobbied her employer to order a supply for its own promo. They were an instant hit. When her office supply ran out, as well as her access to ordering promo at work, Hart took to TikTok to ask the internet for help. Although she doesn’t name the pen in her original video, Hart reveals in a follow-up post that it’s the BIC Intensity Clic Gel Pen, which is exclusively supplied by Koozie Group (PPAI 114187, Platinum), the No. 9 supplier in the 2024 PPAI 100. The company estimates that sample requests for this item have tripled thanks to the hype and reports that one distributor received 1,200 sample requests in just 48 hours. IMAGE: Koozie Group PPAI • JULY 2024 • 73
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