Garfield Toys
Jim Davis debut his comic Garfield in 1978, but it would become a phenomenon of marketing and merchandise in the 1980s. Jim Davis, in an interview with the Washington Post in 1982, blatantly said that Garfield was a “conscious effort to come up with a good, marketable character.” He looked at cartooning with an advertiser’s eye, scouting trends in the most popular strips. Davis developed his lasagna-loving cat to join the popular pantheon of cartoon pets like Snoopy and Marmaduke.
He kept the cartoon controversy-free, in service to his goal to dominate the merchandise market. Garfield was soon a toy and clothing powerhouse. Fortunate children even had a Garfield phone. But Garfield had crossover appeal for adults; in the late 1980s, it was nearly impossible to travel down a highway without seeing a Garfield plush suction cupped on a car window. Garfield is still a merchandise industry.
