Reckless Kelly promotional cup

Promotional cups like this one play a part in generating buzz for the threatrical release of a film. They can be sold in cinemas – when you buy popcorn or soft drink – or as collectible merchandise in shops. This promotional cup is for the 1993 film Reckless Kelly and features an image of actor-filmmaker Yahoo Serious sporting a garbage bin in place of the familiar Ned Kelly helmet. Having its own merchandise shows how popular the film was at the time. 

The movie was Yahoo's follow-up to the success of Young Einstein (1988). It told the story of a modern-day Ned Kelly, a Robin Hood-type character forced to raise one million dollars to save the family island. Yahoo Serious rose to stardom after the success of his first film, even appearing on the front cover of Time magazine in 1989, before fading from public view after an unsuccessful copyright infringement case against internet search engine company Yahoo! 

Promotional cups for movies can also become sought-after collectibles. In 2023, a popcorn-and-cup combo from the Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour went for a whopping A$382 online – 10 times its original retail price of $38.