I scoured the internet to find random Twilight collaborations, specifically limited edition products that came out during 2008-2013 to promote the franchise.
In 2010/2011, I was gifted, by Mum, my first ever Twilight merch- a Twilight Journal Set. I was always too scared to write in them because they were precious to me but after a couple of years of sitting on my shelf, I started writing my grade 4 drama in one of them. To this day I still own this set and have 3 untouched, empty journals (idk if I’ll ever use them again). I don’t remember anything about the marketing of the films- which is crazy because the Twilight saga has played a major part in my life growing up as well as my gateway into my love for vampire content/lore.
Since the Twilight renaissance there has been a resurgence of new Twilight collaborations such as JayJays, Colourpop, Glamlite and LEGO. You can even get NECA licensed products secondhand on eBay or new at pop culture stores. I know sellers on eBay and other marketplaces have been listing Twilight merch since the beginning but for the younger generations- it’s our chance to be involved in the never-dying fandom and fall victim to it’s greedy cash grabs. With that being said I love all the products I have since collected and I don’t regret buying any of it and I’ll still love Twilight forever (it’s a sickness, I know).
(ꈍᴗꈍ)♡
I went looking into old merchandise that came out to promote the films to see what I missed out on. So here it is, an investigation of Twilight saga promotional merchandise, specifically, limited edition collections and collaborations !
The Twilight Saga’s Eclipse Gum
Wrigley’s Eclipse partnered with Summit Entertainment’s release of ‘Eclipse’ (2010) creating the most iconic collab they probably will ever have in their existence. If you check out this YouTube video, it explains how the gum packets had special codes which you would scan and receive exclusive Twilight content. The funniest thing is apparently there was a chance to win a date with Kellan Lutz (actor who played Emmett Cullen) by telling Eclipse, a time you needed gum. A writer from Seventeen Magazine in 2010 wrote, “The winner of the best moment (and a guest) will be whisked off to Baton Rouge for a one night stay and a private DVD viewing with Kellan”. I could not find any information on who won or if there was even a winner.
Pro Beauty Tools Twilight Collection
In 2011, Pro Beauty Tools released a limited edition collection of 9 hair tools including four hairbrushes, two straightener, a curler, heat rollers and a blow dryer, called the “Twilight Sparkle Tool Collection”, to promote the release of ‘Breaking Dawn: Part 1’ (2011). Which made sense with the wedding taking place in the film. Each beauty tool came with a how-to styling card and packaging for a specific characters but all the tools had the same design- purple sparkle and a Twilight logo.
Twilight Pepsi
For 3 of the Twilight saga’s theatrical release in Italian cinemas, Pepsi launched a ‘New Moon’ (2009), ‘Breaking Dawn: Part 1' (2011) and ‘Breaking Dawn: Part 2’ (2012) limited edition Pepsi can. In 2012, The International Rome Film Festival held the world premiere for ‘Breaking Dawn: Part 2’ as well as a 8-hour long Twilight marathon proceeding it. According to an article by The Hollywood Reporter, “each seat in the cinema came equipped with special cans of Pepsi…limited-edition series focusing on the film’s three main characters”.
Burger King Twilight Meals
Burger King partnered up with Summit Entertainment to profit off the Twilight fandom with limited time meals and promotional merchandise of ‘New Moon’ (2009) and ‘Eclipse’ (2010). The New Moon meal was a BK Burger Shots 6 Pack (it’s literally 6 burgers wtf?), fries and a drink, which came with collectable cards. Check out these two commercials about it here; New Moon x BK commercial 1, New Moon x BK commercial 2. The Eclipse meal was a snack kids meal that came with one of the toys seen in the promotional photo above. Check out these commercials about the Eclipse meals here; Eclipse x BK commercial 1, Eclipse x BK comercial 2.
Jollibee Twilight Meals
Please watch this commercial, of Filipino vampires running to get their hands on a Jollibee meal. Unlike Burger King’s Eclipse meal with toys, the Jollibee Eclipse meal came with character cups upon purchase.
Sky Bar Chocolates and Sweets
Necco, an American confectionery company, had a licensing agreement with the Twilight movies producing a great deal of sweets and chocolates for the first three films. Check out CandyBlog, who reports on each confectionary with great detail.
Makeup Products
Brands including, Essence, NOX and the saga’s own Twilight Beauty (Luna Twilight and Volturi Twilight) created iconic makeup products. Blogger, Katie Snooks, reported in 2012 , “usually the products are overpriced and of really crappy quality. However, these makeup items (referring to the Luna Twilight/Volturi products) have surprised me. I think the products are of high quality and aren’t as tacky as I was expecting them to be”. What stands out for me, just visually, are the DuWop Twilight Lip Venom and the palette kits (top right in image above) which were each based on a female character; Bella, Rosalie, Victoria or Alice.
TWILIGHT BARBIE DOLLS
The Twilight Collection from Mattel first launched a year after the first movie in 2008 until 2013. The first barbie dolls released were Edward and Bella, modelled by the “as if you could outrun me!” forest scene. In the following years, Mattel would drop the shirtless ‘New Moon’ Jacob, the rest of the Cullen family, Victoria, Jane, wedding day Bella and Edward and lastly vampire Bella/Edward giftset. More information can be found on Barbiepedia!
BONUS FINDS:
Perfumes and Scents
Perfume, body mists and lotions released by Twilight Beauty. Each body mist was inspired by one character and their scent. As user, 1blueflame1, wrote on their blog in 2011, “…Leah scent its a very light floral smell sort of like a forest smell…Bella….is still the Coconut and Vanilla scent….Jane… its more like of a light diet soda smell to me lol but it smells really good don't get me wrong.” While looking online I saw a major consensus that Bella’s spray smells amazing and is the best of the lot.
Greenlight Collectibles Car Models
Charlie’s Ford Police Cruiser and Bella’s Chevy Truck made by Greenlight Collectibles.
Twilight DS Lite Set
While scavenging for information about the makeup mentioned above, I found this blog, by user 1bluefame1, which was dedicated to their Twilight collection. Leading me to find this gem- a DS Lite Pack. It’s so random and I could not find out if this was a legit official product but who cares, it’s epic and a product of its time.
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That’s all I found on a day of investigating, I’m sure there are loads of stuff from other countries I’m missing and other well-know collabs forgotten. During my time looking online I went through countless of blogs who already had done this style of article since 2008 to 2013- reviewing merchandise and updating their followers on new collaboration or merch drops. It was like a time capsule, reading their comments- some people enthralled/excited and others complaining in fatigue for the over-branding of Twilight products. I also stumbled on two Robert Pattinson dedicated websites which one of them still keeps updated to this day (that’s dedication). So I found the existence on a couple of merchandises from years ago, simply because his face were on the products.
There’s definitely something to be said about the over-branding of the franchise and how it plays a role in the fandom’s over-consumption for merchandise. But I’m not the right person to discuss it since I would’ve fallen victim to anything Twilight related if I had known of its existence back then. That’s how tight the leash is around my neck and the other millions of Twilight suckersss.
Thanks for reading!
Substack saw it first! check it out here!
V xx
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