What Super Mario Teaches About Licensing

What if the real marketing for a blockbuster film isn’t ads… but products?

In this episode of Born to License, David breaks down the Super Mario Galaxy licensing rollout — and why it’s one of the most impressive examples of licensing as a marketing engine.

From toys and food partnerships to theatrical collectibles and global promotions, this is a full-scale, multi-category licensing strategy designed to do two things at once: sell products and sell movie tickets.

And the key insight?

 Super Mario doesn’t need a movie to succeed — but the movie gives the entire licensing ecosystem a moment to explode.

In this episode:

🎯 Licensing as marketing

• Why licensed products aren’t just revenue — they drive awareness
• How retail visibility turns into box office success
• Why films create a “permission moment” for brands and retailers

🧸 The toy strategy breakdown

• JAKKS Pacific as master toy partner
• Why timing (6 weeks before release) matters
• The importance of proven retail performance

👶 Long-term brand building

• Fisher-Price Little People introducing Mario to new generations
• Why this is “long game” licensing at its best

🍔 Massive promotional partnerships

• McDonald’s global Happy Meal rollout
• General Mills activating across 100+ products
• PepsiCo’s Bubly campaign with collectible mechanics
• How food licensing creates real consumer interaction

🌍 A truly global campaign

• Regional activations from Brazil to Japan
• Why global scale is critical for modern IP

🍿 The rise of theatrical collectibles

• The record-breaking Super Mario popcorn bucket
• Why collectibles have become a marketing channel
• How products generate organic social media buzz

The key takeaway:

Great licensing doesn’t just support a film — it amplifies it.

Super Mario is a perfect example of how an evergreen brand can use a theatrical release to concentrate attention, activate partners, and dominate culture across every touchpoint.

If you work in licensing, retail, marketing, or brand strategy, this episode is a masterclass in how to do it right.

🎙 Born to License – Hosted by David Born

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Transcript

This week the Super Mario Galaxy opens in cinemas and I'll be honest, I'm excited to see it. I love the first one and any excuse to get to a cinema is a good one as far as I'm concerned. But before I go and grab my popcorn, and in this case there's a very specific popcorn vessel I want to talk about, I want to spend this episode looking at what Universal and Nintendo have built around this film from a licensing and promotional perspective. Because this is a genuinely impressive rollout. And whether you're a licensed, a retailer, a brand manager, or just someone who finds it fascinating how IP travels into the real world, there is a lot to unpack here. I'm David Born and this is Born to License. Let me start with a point I often come back to in this show. 

 Licensing is a revenue stream. Absolutely. But it's also a marketing tool and when it's done well, it one of the most powerful ones available. The licensed products you see in the supermarket aisle or a toy store doesn't just make money, it builds awareness, it drives conversation. And critically, it puts bums on seats. We saw a beautiful example of this recently with General Mills and Mighty Supreme. They put the character on Wheaties boxes. Those boxes sold out almost immediately and it became one of the biggest press moments in the lead up to that film. It wasn't a traditional ad, it was a product on a shelf and it cut through. Wicked is another great example. Universal invested in one of the most amazing style guides the industry has seen for years. And the licensing program around part one in particular was genuinely unavoidable at retail. 

 I couldn't walk into any store without seeing it. That visibility contributed to a cultural moment that no doubt helped put audiences into cinemas. And don't get me started with the Barbie movie, the Playbook to end all Playbooks. As far as licensed product driving crowds to cinemas. Now Super Mario Galaxy is in that same category because what makes this IP different is that it doesn't need a film to have licensing success. Mario is an all year round product. It performs at retail whether there's a tentpole or there's not a tent pole. But what a film like this does is it gives every retailer and licensee a reason to rally around the brand and give it a massive push at exactly the right moment. It's a permission structure for more shelf space, more activation and more ambition. And that's exactly what's happening right now. 

 Let's start with toys because this is where the master of strategy really shows Jakks Pacific is back as master global toy partner and the range they've built for this film is impressive. We've got five inch articulated figures of Mario, Yoshi, Luma, Rosalina and Bowser junior, each with unique accessories. There's also one and a half inch minifigures, jumbo posable plush pullback kart races, and this is my personal favorite, Glow in the Dark Luma Yos the Yoshi Egg playset cracks open into a double sided adventure with a New York museum scene one side and a dry outpost complete with bats and a warp pipe on the other. There's also a Gateway Galaxy diorama set and a deluxe Bowser Castle playset. The range has already hit retail in Febr six weeks before the film, which is exactly the right timing. 

 What's worth highlighting from a licensing industry perspective is how the 2023 toy range performed. According to Circana data, the 5 inch JAX figures were the only action figures in the top 50 best selling toys for multiple months in 2023. That's the kind of retail performance that gets a partnership renewed. And it was. Now alongside Jax, you've got Mattel and Fisher Price with the Little People, My Mario collection. And I think this is genuinely underappreciated from a strategy standpoint. This is the first time Nintendo characters have appeared as little people figures. Fisher Price is the number one toddler toy brand in the world with over 2 billion little people figures sold. And they're now introducing Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Yoshi and Toad to kids who haven't even picked up a switch yet. 

 Mario's adventure playset has iconic music, a question block, a chain chomp, a warp pipe, all designed for those tiny hands. Bowser's airship is a push along and this is not just a licensing deal. This is an investment in the next generation of Mario fans. That's long game licensing at its best. And it's exactly what a brand like Nintendo with genuine multi generational appeal should be doing. Now let's talk about promotional partnerships, because the breadth here is significant. McDonald's launched a Happy Meal promotion on March 26, six days ahead of the film. 12 Collectible character toy posable clips, including Mario, Luigi and the gang, and even Mario in his frog suit. In Brazil, the partnership has gone even further. Themed packaging across the Big Mac and McNuggets meals, new sources, a new sundae, a new Sprite flavor. 

 McDonald's and Mario have a history going back over 30 years and that relationship clearly remains very much alive. General Mills is also going all in on the Super Mario Galaxy Movie, we're talking over 100 participating products across brands that you know Lucky Charms, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Old Del Paso, Nature Valley, Fruit Roll Ups and more. There's hero launches including Lucky Charms Strawberry Cereal with Galactic Marshmallows, Pillsbury Ready to Bake, Yoshi Shaped Sugar Cookie Dough and Galaxy Inspired Fruit Roll ups. This is food licensing at its very best when a consumer can experience the product all the way to consumption. They even built a dedicated website. It's galaxytime.com with activities, film inspired content and more galactic recipes. That is a comprehensive, committed promotional partner, not just a logo slap on a cereal box. Now let's talk about Bubbly. PepsiCo's sparkling water brand. 

 They've launched three limited edition film inspired flavors. Meteor Melon, Cosmic Swirl and Dragon Fruit Stardust. The cans feature Luma characters that change color when chilled, which is very cool and hidden inside. Select eight packs of 50 special Rosalina cans, find one and you win an all expense paid trip to NASA's Kennedy Space Center. That is a brilliant mechanic. It turns a promotional can into a bit of a treasure hunt which is so much fun. And then there's Feastables McBeast snack brand which has released three Mario Galaxy products. The Galaxy Cocoa Crunch Bar, White Chocolate Peanut Butter, Yoshi Eggs. They sound delicious and Sour Boost Gummies. They're available at Kroger 7115 below Walmart and Regal Cinemas. Now what's interesting here from a licensing perspective is that Feastables is a creator led brand. 

 It only launched in 2022 and yet here it is sitting alongside McDonald's and General Mills as a promotional partner one of the biggest animated films of the year. That's a sign of how much the landscape has shifted. And Nestle has also activated primarily in markets like Brazil with their Bono and Negresco cookie lines and themed Snowflake cereal packaging. A reminder that this is a truly global rollout. It will be unavoidable wherever you are in the world. The licensing machine extends far beyond the US market. On that note, Krispy Kreme has launched Mario Yoshi and Luma donuts in Japan from April 8 with a question block Mystery Donut thrown in for good measure. I couldn't confirm a western release at time of recording, but given the appetite for this kind of thing, I wouldn't be surprised if that changes. 

 Now let me get to that popcorn bucket that I teased at the top of the episode because I have to talk about this. This is one of those moments that Perfectly encapsulates how theatrical collectibles have become a genuine marketing category in their own right. Universal Illumination and Zynk, working with amc, have broken a Guinness World Record for the world's smallest commercially available popcorn container. It is a miniature bowser cauldron. It measures just 2.6 inches wide. It holds 105 milliliters, which is about 5 to 11 kernels of popcorn. And it costs $7.69. And I'm really excited to say this, it's actually a plot point because at the end of the 2023 film, Bowser consumed a blue star that shrank him to a miniature size. The cauldron is a one to one replica of the tiny container he ends up in. 

 So the collectible is telling the story. And that is just so smart. Here's the cont that makes this even better. Less than eight months before this record was set, the Galactus bucket from Fantastic Four set the Guinness World Record for the largest popcorn container, nine liters, 17 and a half inches tall. And that one was 79. 99. Zinc went in the exact opposite direction. Went from biggest to smallest in under a year. And other Mario branded buckets have also done really well. The Yoshi bucket has sold out on pre order. So these things are not a novelty, they are the category. Another great example, the Devil Wears Prada handbag bucket. It did exactly the same thing earlier this year. Just a month ago I saw it and it was unavoidable on my LinkedIn, on my Instagram feeds. 

 A great collectible becomes its own piece of earned media. People post it, they queue for it, they talk about it and it goes round and round. It's its own flywheel. And every one of those posts is a reminder that the film exists and it's worth going to. And people go see the movie because of all of this buzz. So what's the takeaway? For those of us in the licensing industry? Mario Galaxy is giving us a masterclass on how to use a tentpole film to amplify an evergreen brand, not replace it. Amplify it. The IP was strong before the film was announced. The licensing was already working. But a theatrical release creates a window. A reason for every retailer and every brand partner to lean into that same moment. It concentrates the energy. The other lesson is about the range of activation. 

 Toys, food, beverages, confectionery, qsr, theatrical collectibles. And I'm really just touching the surface. There's so much more product out there. And the great creator brand partnership with feastables that I mentioned every corner of daily life has been touched by this campaign and every touch point is doing two jobs at once, selling product and selling tickets. I'm genuinely excited to see the film. I can't wait. I hope it's a huge success for Nintendo and Universal, both at the box office and at retail. And I hope all the licensees and retailers find success with this film as well. Based on everything I've seen in the lead up, I think it will before I wrap up. If you haven't listened already, I had an amazing chat with Davy Fogarty recently for the podcast. Davey is the youngest shark on Shark Tank Australia. 

 He founded wearable blanket brand the Oodie. We spoke about all things licensing and Davey shared some really interesting tales from the early days of his licensing journey. You can find the episode on the same platform that you're right now listening to me on. In more personal news, those who have been following me on Instagram would have seen that I had some bad news. I've gained an injury that is preventing me from running a marathon. I've been training my butt off for the last six months, so I am devastated. It doesn't sound like it. I am talking to you with a smile on my face, but really, I am pretty disappointed. If you're not following me on Instagram, come on over and get to know me a little more. Make me feel a bit better. 

 If LinkedIn is more your thing, I'm posting my thoughts and opinions on all things licensing there on a regular basis. And of course, if you want to dive even deeper, check out thedavidborn.com where I have a bunch of licensing things going on. Thanks for listening. Until next time. I'm David Born and this is Born to License.