Chronicle Readies ‘The Walking Dead’ Cookbook

Consumers will be able to get a taste of The Walking Dead. Chronicle Books is releasing The Walking Dead cookbook in October featuring recipes drawn from meals featured in the series. The book was written by Lauren Wilson, a chef at the Rose’s Bar & Grill in Brooklyn, NY, who is vegetarian, but who hired a professional hunter to help in getting fresh deer and squirrel meat found in some recipes.

Chronicle has a roster of TV series and videogame-based cookbooks, including one for Blizzard Activision’s new Hearthstone title that is due in the fall. “We are finding that we can cross promote the cookbooks to people who like to cook, people who like the show and those who do both,” says a Chronicle spokeswoman.

Contact:

Chronicle Books, Sarah Mularkey, Executive Editorial Dir., 415-537-4200, sarah_mularkey@chroniclebooks.com

GB eye Dropping Stickers, Tattoos to Focus on Teens

GB eye is dropping licensing for kid-targeted stickers and tattoos, as it seeks to expand sales of drinkware in sharpening focus on the teenage and older market, says the company’s Max Arguile. GB eye, which launched drinkware in 2015, sold one million units in 2016 and is seeking to include the category in all future licensing agreements, says Arguile. Stickers and tattoos “are not really selling at the moment” for GB eye, says Arguile. “It has more to do with the demographic we are moving to and we are shifting more to teenage and [older] products for licensing.”

Contact:

Max Arguile, Licensing Mgr., +44 114 252 1614, max@gbeye.com

Warner Bros, Tolkien Estate Settle Licensing Lawsuit

Warner Bros. and the estate of author J.R.R. Tolkien settled an $80 million lawsuit over the licensing of online gaming and slot machines based “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings, ” ending a five-year legal battle. Terms of the agreement were disclosed.

The settlement was disclosed in a filing in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

The Tolkien estate sued Warner Bros. in 2012, alleging the film studio violated a 1969 agreement covering the sale of “tangible” merchandise by tying the books to the “morally questionable (and decidedly non-literary) world of online and casino gambling.”

The suit was “amicably resolved” and Warner Bros. and J.R.R Tolkien’s Estate “look forward to working together in the future,” according to a statement jointly released by Warner Bros. and the estate.

Contact:

Warner Bros., Maryellen Zarakas, SVP Worldwide Franchise Management, 818-954-4170, maryelen.zarakas@warnerbros.com

Entertainment One: More Than 250,000 Counterfeit ‘Peppa Pig’ and ‘PJ Masks’ Products Seized

Entertainment One Licensing seized 187,500 counterfeit Peppa Pig products in the first half, doubling the amount from year ago amid a crackdown in Latin America, the company said. In total more than 250,000 products were seized across Peppa Pig and PJ Masks, including 200,000 in Latin America where 5,000 ecommerce listings were taken down, the company said. The counterfeit items were concentrated in toys – playsets and plush – and apparel (t-shirts).

In addition to Latin America, Entertainment One removed 10,000 counterfeit listings across eight ecommerce sites in Russia and filed 100 infringement suits against sellers of products. Entertainment One also sued a dozen sellers of counterfeit Peppa Pig products on Alibaba and seized 13,000 items during a raid on a Shantou, China facility.

Contact:

Entertainment One, Andrew Carley, Head of Global Licensing,+44 20 7907 3797, acarley@entonegroup.com

Sainsbury’s Expanding Argos In-Store Locations

Sainsbury’s will expand the number of Argos locations in its stores to 130-150 by next March as it seeks to cash in on the acquisition of its former rival last year. The Argos in-store format is in 75 Sainsbury’s stores with a goal eventually reaching 250, Sainsbury’s Michael Coupe told analysts. The acquisition of Argos brought a broader assortment of toys and consumer electronic products to Sainsbury’s. Sainsbury’s also has shut 78 Argos stores since closing on purchase in September. At the time of the sale to Sainsbury’s Argos had 845 stores, about 200 of which were expected to close.

Meanwhile, UK supermarket rival Tesco said it will cut 1,200 jobs at its headquarters in the UK and in India. It also plans to close a call center in February in Cardiff that employs 1,100.

Contact:

Sainsbury’s, Michael Coupe, CEO, +44 843 557 3614