Unless there's going to be a big reveal when the movie comes out, and trust me, I'm still holding out hope for that, I'm going to change my in the middle opinion. Disney has made some big promotions with retailers in the UK and I'll say Germany (that's where those puppets come from, right?), while other than Disney Store plush there was hardly anything. And the thing is, people WERE asking for it. I wish Kohls had a deal with Disney for that 5 dollar charity plush instead of those Eric Carle ones that just don't seem to be selling (when they had Toy Story 3, they disappeared in a week with no restock) at the very least...Disney has actually been doing the Muppets justice in the past few months. There's actually more stuff in the US than is being reported. The Disney store has lots of Muppet plushes including a commercially available Pepe and Walter. There are also houseware and electronics items at various top retailers. We didn't get a windfall or action figures. That's the gripe.
Now I know they've been playing it cautious in a very volatile market place (one packed with unwanted and unsellable Arthur Christmas figures), and the retailers are just as much, if not more to blame... but other than some lame chotchkis like off brand Snuggies and feetie pajamas there really wasn't all that much around movie time to be excited about. And I'm thinking that extra push could have equaled a better box office gross from exposure alone. They did a great job on the internet, no question... and television 2 weeks up until the film came out.
I'm glad some small things are starting to pop up like Valentines and Bandaids... I severely doubt we'd ever get an action figure line ever again. And I get it's some sort of moral sin to Disney to do fast food promotions (though sugary fruit snacks, sugary drinks, and sugary breakfast cereals NO problem... too bad the Muppets don't have any of them yet). And above all, I understand they're going for the life long brand... but what the early sell out of Disney store plush merchandise proves is that Disney was worried about nothing. Once the DVD comes out, I expect flood gates of Muppet stuff to open up... but if it's going to be one of those things that Disney feels Europe appreciates more (like the Duck family), they're the only ones that will get anything.
As ugly as some of them were, a lot of us felt left out when Europe got the 25th anniversary plush kids meal, and all the US got was another uninspired Barbie/Hot Wheels promotion.