I don’t get it. What has put Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen back into the spotlight again? Sure, it’s good that they’re enjoying such phenomenal success, but what brought them back, and enough to have all this merchandise? Sure, these two have grown up on camera, first as Michelle Tanner on Full House, then on a bunch of little “Mary Kate and Ashley” videos and a couple of feature films (“It Takes Two” comes to mind). Still, for a few years, they seemed to be out of the spotlight. And just as well, as Full House had been over for a while, and they’d run their course. Now, they’re back, they’re older, and the center of a huge merchandising craze. Working at Wal-Mart, I’ve seen items with their names and likenesses on them in clothes, hair care, shoes, cosmetics, fragrances, eyeglass frames (amusing considering they do NOT wear glasses themselves), and some other stuff like that. I’ve also seen Mary Kate and Ashley calendars, and also Mary Kate and Ashley dolls (which are rather amusing-looking). And looking at their Web site, it doesn’t even seem all that Olsen-centric. It seems more like a Web site for the brand that is only loosely associated with the Olsen twins, with just enough Olsen to make it relevant, but more about selling the brand of stuff. Still, how they managed to become so popular once again after being out of the spotlight for so long is amazing…
