The Napoleon Dynamite Hype Boosts Merchandise

By Matt Weafer
Messenger-Inquirer

Vote for Pedro and he will make your wildest dreams come true. You have probably seen his campaign t-shirts and buttons around town, but who, you may ask, is Pedro?

Pedro is one of the characters in the hit movie Napoleon Dynamite.

Napoleon Dynamite is a stereotypical high school loser, struggling with popularity and girls, and living with his thirty-something brother and grandmother. The movie is about the trials and tribulations in the life of a high school student.

Napoleon Dynamite merchandise has exploded in the mall and other stores around town. Hot Topic is the hub of Napoleon Dynamite paraphernalia. Displays of Napoleon t-shirts and sweat bands are stacked through out the store. Hot Topic sells anything Napoleon Dynamite—from t-shirts to air freshener to lip balm.

“We can’t keep it in the store,” Nathan Shouse, Hot Topic employee said. “We even sell the shirts he wore in the movie.”

According to Shouse, Hot Topic started carrying Napoleon Dynamite merchandise three or four months before the movie hit theatres.

“Napoleon is the ultimate loser, but he still maintains his dignity,” Shouse said, that’s why he’s so popular. “He’s gonna be the stuff of legend one day. People are already starting rumors about him.”

Nick Vessels, 18, said, “I heard the guy who played Napoleon died in a car crash, but not before he finished shooting the sequel.”

Shouse said that the town the movie was set in has developed into a huge tourist attraction since the movie’s release.

Not everyone shares in the passion for Napoleon, however.

“It’s not worth all the merchandise,” Clark Carothers, 17, said.

“They tried too hard to be random,” Paul Shively, 16, said.

“The comedy was too simple,” Georgia Cox, 16, said.

Mike Johnson, 16, Dagmar’s Board Shop employee, said he was exited about the movie when he first heard about it. “I heard a bunch of Mormon kids were trying to make a funny, clean movie without making it dirty, and I wanted to check it out.”

Johnson said he enjoyed the movie when he watched it, but that was before the hype. “People ruin everything,” he said. “I used to like it, but the fact that everyone in the entire town of Owensboro quotes it, makes me hate it.”

“There’s so many one-liners that are so catchy,” Shouse said.

“I can’t go outside without hearing someone say ‘frickin’ idiot’ at least once,” Johnson said.

The one-liners and quotes that made the movie popular are branded across the t-shirts and merchandise. Lines like “My lips hurt real bad”, “Frickin’ idiot” and “Peace out” are some of the most common.

Napoleon Dynamite like many movies before its time, has attracted a huge cult following, and will probably continue to make viewers laugh for years.

Erica Schroader, American Eagle assistant manager, said, “I loved it. It was stupid humor about the everyday annoyances of high school with ultimate actors, dude.”