Characters Clean Up in Personal Care Category

Skincare, haircare, bodycare, and other personal care products have been an active category for licensing in recent years, across a wide variety of property types. One subsegment that has been a hot spot in the past 12 months is personal care items tied to children’s entertainment and character properties, mostly of the classic or nostalgic sort. While some of the collaborative products are aimed at young children, many are tailored toward a nostalgic young adult consumer base. Some examples: 

  • This month, Fred Rogers Productions licensed Tubby Todd, a marketer of gentle family products, for a limited-edition Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood bodycare collection. The raspberry-black currant-scented hair-and-body wash and lotion mark the second collaboration between the two companies. Sold through the Tubby Todd website, the items have a Valentine’s Day theme and sport pink and red labels highlighting both companies’ logos along with well-known symbols from the show. Tubby Todd has released other licensed collections in the past, including one featuring Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar.   
  • In December 2024, U.S. agency King Features, on behalf of global master licensing representative Rights & Brands, collaborated with K-Beauty purveyor Dearcloud for a collection of Moomin personal care products. They included hand creams, pimple patches, cleansing wipes, face masks for glowing skin, hair clips, cosmetic bags, and more. 
  • In October, Lush announced its largest-ever collaboration, encompassing 14 different products, tied to Universal Pictures’ feature film release, Wicked. The pink and green merchandise included bath bombs, soap, shower gel, bubble wands, and body spray. Lush is a frequent collaborator with children’s entertainment properties; other IPs highlighted in partnerships in the past year include Minecraft, Shrek, and Beetlejuice. Some of the new collections introduced are part of ongoing relationships, with the Minions being one example. 
  • Ukrainian licensing agency Mood Space signed Ukrainian drugstore chain EVA in October for a line of Garfield personal care items sold in the retailer’s 1,500 stores. Products include paw-shaped soap dispensers and bath bombs featuring a surprise inside, with the first batch of 40,000 bath bombs reportedly selling out in six weeks. The initiative was tied to the release of The Garfield Movie.
  • In June, The Copyrights Group, a division of Studiocanal, partnered with Jo Malone London for four Paddington gift collections containing orange marmalade-scented cologne—inspired by Paddington’s favorite food—along with scented bath and body products and home fragrance. One of the gift sets was packaged in a trunk like Paddington’s.  

In a few cases, some sort of natural attribute of the property exists that lends itself to a unique product in the category, as in the case of the Paddington orange marmalade scent. But for the most part, the characters simply bring some nostalgic or pop culture fun and attractive designs to the licensee’s product and packaging, along with name recognition and an established fan base. 

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