Hulu finally set up Shop Hulu—an online store where you can buy all sorts of merchandise from your favorite shows.
Since 2019, Hulu has given free ugly sweaters to promote their shows to a few lucky viewers. They even expanded this in 2020, when fans could win a sweater if they tweeted or posted on Instagram with the hashtag #HuluSweaterSweepstakes.
With thousands of fans participating, the sweater sweepstakes' popularity must have convinced Hulu it was time for a full-blown merchandising operation.
Either way, Shop Hulu is now online. Let's take a look at what you can buy.
Ugly Sweaters and Other Fun Stuff
Shop Hulu is an online shop selling ugly sweaters, general Hulu merchandise as well as merchandise for nearly 30 shows such as The Handmaid's Tale, Solar Opposites, Grey's Anatomy, and Wu-Tang: An American Saga.
The shop has over 1,312 products across four categories: accessories, drinkware, clothing, and home and office. In accessories, you can get merch like face masks and backpacks; drinkware offers branded mugs and water bottles.
If you're into apparel, you could get those ugly sweaters and hoodies, while home and office offers wall art, stickers, and pillows, among others. All in all, there's a lot of variety in the items you can buy.
Although Hulu has been giving away ugly sweaters for free, fans who weren't lucky enough to get them can purchase them starting November 30. All revenues from sales of ugly sweaters sold up to December 31 (minus taxes and shipping) will go to the charity Feeding America. However, this donation is capped at a thousand sweaters sold.
Hulu also has a promo where you can get a discount of 15% on all items if you sign up for their newsletter. They even have special offers on notable dates in the shopping calendar, starting with Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
A Way to Connect With Younger Fans
Hulu is following in the footsteps of Netflix, which also launched its own online merchandise shop five months ago. Branded merchandise is an important vehicle for a company to create a bond with young fans. If done well, these products can lock in the fans for years to come and add a neat revenue stream to the bottom line.