Here's what's weird about the current Wicked moment: I remember when this was a MUSICAL.
A Broadway show. Something you saw live. Something you got excited about if it toured to your city. Something where you bought the cast recording and maybe a T-shirt at the merch table.
It was a theatrical experience. A live performance. Something special BECAUSE it was live.
Now it's everything. It's drinks at Dunkin'. It's Stanley Cups. It's furniture at Pottery Barn. It's snack foods with "Emerald Heat" flavoring.
The story hasn't changed. The music hasn't changed. But somehow we've gone from "beloved Broadway musical" to "lifestyle brand that colonized every consumer category."
And as someone who loved this show BEFORE it became a merchandising empire, it's exhausting.
Pink And Green Everywhere I Look
Let me walk you through my morning in this Wicked-saturated world:
Wake up. Scroll social media. Wicked Stanley Cup ads. People fighting over limited editions. Black Friday-level chaos. For water bottles.
Get coffee at Dunkin'. Pink and green donuts stare at me. Wicked-themed drinks that are basically Matcha and strawberry in disguise.
Go to Target for completely unrelated shopping. NEARLY 200 WICKED PRODUCTS. Half of them exclusive. Home goods, clothing, toys, accessories. I can't escape.
Grab a snack. Oh look, Wicked Takis in "Spellbindingly Sweet" flavor. Because obviously that's a thing we needed.
Check out furniture online. Pottery Barn has Wicked collections. FURNITURE.
I loved this musical. I STILL love this musical. But I'm drowning in pink and green, and I need it to stop.
I Saw Idina Menzel Perform This Live
Here's what kills me: I saw Idina Menzel perform "Defying Gravity" live on stage. That moment - when Elphaba rises, when the music swells, when you feel it in your entire body - that's what Wicked is supposed to be about.
That moment of someone choosing themselves over what others expect. Choosing to be "wicked" rather than diminished. That's POWERFUL.
And now that same story is being used to sell me toothbrushes with witch hat covers.
The cognitive dissonance is staggering.
I'm watching a story about rejecting superficiality and commercialization while being bombarded with Wicked-branded everything designed to make me feel like I need to buy things to prove I'm a real fan.
The Stanley Cup Madness
Let's talk specifically about those Stanley Cups because they represent everything wrong with this merchandising explosion.
Three new Wicked Stanley Cup designs just dropped. Last year's sold out in 24 hours. People fought over them. Literal chaos.
These are WATER BOTTLES. Pink or green Wicked-branded water bottles.
And I watched musical theatre fans - people who love this story for the same reasons I do - camp out online to buy them. Fighting over artificial scarcity. Posting their "wins" on social media.
This is what fandom has become. Consuming products. Displaying purchases. Proving loyalty through shopping.
As someone who's loved Wicked since it was just a Broadway show, this feels wrong.
Le Creuset? REALLY?
Wicked-branded Le Creuset cookware exists. Luxury kitchen equipment that costs hundreds of dollars per piece.
Who is this for? Who needs a $300 Dutch oven because it's pink and has Wicked branding?
This is using the brand to sell premium cookware to people with disposable income and FOMO.
As a musical theatre person, I find this deeply depressing.
The merchandising avalanche threatens to turn this into a joke. To make Wicked memorable for Stanley Cup fights instead of Cynthia Erivo's voice.
The movie earned its place. The toothbrushes did not.
I'm Still Excited For Part 2
Despite everything, I'm genuinely looking forward to Wicked Part 2.
I want to see how they handle the second act. I want to hear Cynthia Erivo perform "No Good Deed." I want the emotional payoff.
Because the STORY still matters. The music still matters. The performances still matter.
That's what Wicked should be about.
Not pink and green consumer products. Not artificial scarcity marketing. Not turning fandom into shopping.
We don't need Wicked everything. The story is powerful enough on its own.
I'll be there opening night for Part 2. But I'm skipping the merch circus.
Because I fell in love with a Broadway musical about defying expectations and choosing authenticity over approval.
And there's nothing authentic about fighting over limited-edition water bottles.