Planning for the invasion
The British Invasion was no accident. It was a cultural event which was carefully calculated, with advance planning on both sides of the Atlantic, spearheaded by the success of the Beatles. When American disk jockeys began playing the Beatles records a campaign to promote the band began, supported by merchandise which included bumper stickers which announced “The Beatles Are Coming”, in a cadence reminiscent of Paul Revere. Campaign buttons advertised Ringo for President, and novelty items such as Beatle wigs appeared in stores. The band was reported on by CBS News (in a report which had been originally scheduled for November 22, 1963, but delayed because of the assassination of President Kennedy) and on the popular Jack Paar Show.
In 1963 a company was set up to handle Beatle merchandising known as Seltaeb. It was one of Brian Epstein’s worst business deals, in which he gave away 90% of the revenue from merchandising the band, leading to a series of lawsuits after the band’s marketing power was revealed. The Beatles name and images appeared on plastic guitars and drum sets, tee shirts (over one million sold in three days in 1964), scarves, coffee mugs, wigs, candy and gum, and even on empty cans which announced on their label that the Beatles had breathed into them. Beatles dolls sold over 500,000 in 1964. By the end of the year Seltaeb had licensed over 150 Beatles items.
Despite the massive sales the Beatles “…never saw a penny out of the merchandising”, according to American attorney Nat Weiss. Though the Beatles lost out on a fortune due to Epstein’s acceptance of a contract with little knowledge of the potential market for Beatles merchandise, they did gain from the boost in publicity which the buying frenzy generated. Epstein did manage to renegotiate the amount due NEMS under the contract, increasing it to 49%, and later sued Seltaeb for improper accounting procedures, but the lawsuits and related court cases ended up costing the Beatles and NEMS $100 million by the time the dust settled.
The value of the publicity generated by the merchandise which appeared even before the Beatles arrived in New York for the first time was evident in the reception they received at the airport, which was attended by reporters from all of the major news outlets, as well as thousands of nearly hysterical fans. The first time Americans saw the Beatles perform live was not onstage as a band, but in a news conference in which they charmed the hardened American press with their wit and antics. The majority of the press and television coverage of them was favorable, leading undoubtedly to an increase in their audience when they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.
During the Beatles first visit to America they performed on Ed Sullivan and in two live concerts in Washington DC and New York’s Carnegie Hall before returning to England. Their first tour of America didn’t occur until late summer, by which time the British Invasion was well underway. The Dave Clark Five, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and other acts had taken the country by storm, all of which helped sell additional Beatles merchandise and records, and created a fervor for the band to return. The Beatles performed thirty concerts in twenty-three American cities in August, 1964, with ticket sales of over $1 million dollars.