When On-Screen Favorites Become Real-Life Treats To Enjoy

Whether you’re binge-watching a favorite TV series online or catching the latest movie in the theatre, you may notice the brands of the products the characters use. Yet sometimes, those brands aren’t real. Instead, they’re fabricated in-universe consumer brands created for the screen that seem perfectly natural within the context of the story.

You can thank TV and film creatives for this phenomenon. Frequently, production companies create their own fictional brands. And even if they have the budget for product placement, producers may feel that a fabricated brand just makes more sense within the context of their project.

Take a memorable made-up drink from a modern sci-fi franchise, for instance. The drink didn’t exist, but that didn’t matter: Fans accepted it as an in-universe reality. In fact, the drink now has an active website just for fans and just for fun.

In other words, the drink isn’t available, although the brand still gets plenty of chatter online. But some other in-universe pop culture products have become available in the real world after attracting a devoted following. For that reason, you can buy variations of many products that began in Hollywood studios, including five examples that have made the leap from the screen into everyday life.

1. Ted Lasso’s Biscuits with the Boss

Remember those biscuits that uber-positive American soccer coach made for his boss? He managed to break down the coach’s icy walls with his shortbread, suggesting that a thoughtful treat can sometimes help break the ice. Once again, they are in the spotlight as season four streams into millions of homes. Those biscuits made their season four appearance in the very first episode.

You might think that the only way you can taste Lasso’s shortbread is by attempting to recreate it in your own kitchen. You’d be wrong. The real, trademarked Biscuits with the Boss are available directly from Mackenzie Limited. They even come in the signature pink box that was so much a part of the “Biscuits with the Boss” storyline.

2. Paper from a beloved TV workplace

One long-running workplace comedy made its fictional paper company almost as recognizable as its characters. The long-running series set in Pennsylvania developed a devoted following that continues today. The series also made people start to believe that perhaps, somewhere, the company and its zany employees were real.

To capitalize on the show’s success, a copy paper manufacturer eventually began producing paper featuring the fictional company’s branding. Today, you can pick up one or more reams in a few clicks, offering fans a playful way to bring a bit of the series into the workplace. It’s an example of how even an ordinary prop can take on a life of its own with fans.

3. That colorful stapler

Fans of the movie may immediately recognize the reference when you refer to the movie where an employee covets his fire-engine red stapler. The stapler became one of the movie’s most memorable props. Unsurprisingly, fans began looking for similar staplers, only to find out that businesses didn’t sell them. On the contrary, the version seen on-screen had been specially created for the movie.

You can guess what happened: A stapler manufacturer eventually introduced a red version of one of its models to satisfy all the requests it was getting. For that reason, you can now grab yourself a standout stapler to hold dear and use to secure your important papers.

4. Magical (kind of) sporting sets

Take one part magic and one part sports. Mix. What do you get? A high-flying fictional game featured in a popular fantasy book and film franchise

Although you can’t ride through the air, you can play the game. After the movie’s release, fans began adapting the fictional game for real-world play. Fans eventually adapted the fictional game into a real-world sport, developing rules and organized competitions of their own. Today, fans can even buy equipment inspired by the fictional sport.

The next time you spot a memorable fictional product on-screen, do a little digging. You might be pleasantly surprised to discover that some items that started in a prop studio have real counterparts.

BDG Media newsroom and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.