The Boys Popcorn Bucket Beat Off The Competition With Its X-Rated Design

When the promotional idea factory of "The Boys" gets going, there really is no telling what kind of jaw-dropping and face-palmingly offensive marketing they might deliver. For the fourth season of the R-rated superhero show though, Amazon went in hard (stop laughing) with "The Boys" themed popcorn bucket.

Anyone familiar with the foul-mouthed and incredibly violent world that came from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's imaginations and was adapted for TV by Eric Kripke will be used to the wild variety of blood, guts, and d**k jokes that the show is known for. It should've come as no shock to those who have witnessed the show's super-grim deaths and murder sheep, then, when the concept popcorn bucket for Season 4 of "The Boys" paid tribute to one of its rarely seen yet incredibly impactful side characters, The Love Sausage. And yes, dear reader, it involves exactly what you would expect if you recall Mother Milk's (Laz Alonso) run-in with the superhero with a supersized schlong.

Admittedly, despite being revealed on "The Boys" Instagram account, the promotional item hasn't gone into production — and we're kind of glad it hasn't. The popcorn bucket would be considered pretty basic if it weren't for the massive member protruding from its top, turning the filthy urban legend of cutting a hole in a popcorn bucket and literally flipping it on its (ahem) head. The internet, as expected, responded in shock and awe to the sight.

Racking up over 210,000 likes (you guys are animals!), fans of "The Boys" were quick to react to the announcement of the fictional product, with many viewers expressing their shock at the concept art. @inkboxdpacks was enraged by their mistake writing, "WHY DID I SWIPE!" while @livedenight questioned, "Is that even legal to sell?" Perhaps, but it might depend on what stores you visit.

Showrunner Eric Kripke even chimed in on the fun by simply commenting, "Sweet and salty!" (wow), which led @nateo200 to reply with, "this is so unhinged love it lmfao." Meanwhile, some viewers were scrolling at the wrong place and time, with @code.de.peel admitting, "bruh I opened this at work." Yikes.

What happened to us, guys? When did we, as a society, get the bright idea to turn an essential container for a good, old-fashioned binge snack into something you'd probably have to hide on the top shelf of the kitchen cupboard? Well, not to point Crysknives at anyone, but we blame Lisan Al-Gaib, aka Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet), and the sandworm bucket that gave everyone the same idea. The same grim and downright filthy idea that we can never come back from.

In January 2024, a push for the highly anticipated sci-fi sequel "Dune: Part Two" resulted in the now iconic sandworm-shaped popcorn bucket that had one of the Shai-Hulud's heads resting on the top. It took no time at all for the promotional item to attract the attention of X (formerly Twitter), who looked at the creation and got ideas dirtier than a sand dune. This, in turn, led the item to go viral, providing even more free advertising (not like it needed any) for the film in the lead-up to and during its opening week of release.

The item became such a massive topic of conversation that it was brought to the attention of the stars of the movie during interviews with the media. In between discussing their epic visit to Arrakis, the cast of "Dune: Part Two" got a look at the infamous bucket on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," and the reaction was one of absolute repulsion.

When offered some popcorn from the bucket, Zendaya politely replied, saying, "I'm good, I'm okay." Meanwhile, Florence Pugh was flabbergasted and grossed out by the item. "That's not okay. Who made that? That's not okay. That's wrong." Hero that he is, Timothee Chalamet braved the souvenir and stuck his hand in, which, if anything, highlighted how user-unfriendly it really was as he had some difficulty removing it from his arm. Regardless of its unsavory nature, the unique bit of swag was enough for other hopeful box office hits to follow suit.

While themed popcorn buckets are nothing new, other studios and marketing companies caught wind of the public questioning whether a tub really was just for popcorn and jumped on the trend. Like "Barbenheimer" becoming the big thing of 2023, unique and bizarre popcorn containers are a major 2024 trend. The likes of "Deadpool & Wolverine," "Inside Out 2," and "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" have all attempted to catch lightning in a bucket, though none have been as successful as "Dune." Alas, the competition just couldn't compete. To be fair, though, even the sandworm bucket's designers admitted they didn't anticipate it becoming so unstoppably popular.

Speaking to Slate, bucket buccaneers Rod Mason, who is the vice-president of business development at Zinc, the company that made the item, along with global creative director Marcus Gonzalez expressed their disbelief over a random idea of theirs becoming a movie monster. Earning "Saturday Night Live" level of notoriety (the show used it as the centerpiece of a skit), Mason said, "Interestingly enough, even before the 'SNL' sketch came out, my son, who was 26 at the time, said, 'Hey, Dad, did you do the Dune bucket?' I said, 'Yeah, why? It hasn't been released yet.' He said, 'Yeah, check out Twitter.'" Mason's reaction was one of shock when he saw his creation take on a life of its own. "I guess someone got ahold of it, and it showed up on Reddit first, and then on Twitter, and the rest is history."

Studios still tried to get weird with popcorn, though. What's worse than a frilly sandworm lid to put your hand (and only your hand) into? Well, how about Hugh Jackman's mouth? For the release of "Deadpool & Wolverine," part of the promotional effort was a themed container that was topped off with Wolverine's head, his mouth doubling as the place to pull the popcorn out while you were snorting away in your cinema seats at the costume-covered hijinks.

Thankfully, the likeness of Hugh Jackman wasn't that great, with the Wolverine-shaped hole resembling more of a specially themed emoji than the beloved Australian actor. It still didn't top the sandworm that the world turned sexy, but what might be even more controversial are the price points of the other popcorn buckets that were used for movies' marketing campaigns.

In the case of "Barbie," for example, audiences could cough up a whopping $64 at AMC Theatres for a dream car-themed popcorn holder, which is more expensive than a Barbie Chelsea Dreamhouse at WalMart. Now, we loved that movie as much as the rest of the world, but not that much. And while this and other buckets sold out, is such a steep price dent really sustainable? What does the future look like for the theater-going experience when it involves a flashy collector's item you can buy at the concession stand?

The question on everyone's lips as they try and pick bits of popcorn shrapnel out of their teeth with their tongue is probably something along the lines of: will this booming trend fizzle out any time soon? Honestly, the answer seems to be a firm, hard, 'No.' Your basic promotional popcorn bucket was rolling around movie theaters long before some oddball decided to stick a bristled attachment on one like it was a Dyson vacuum cleaner. A brief skim through Reddit reveals that some fans are trying to decipher leaked designs of a bucket for "Sonic the Hedgehog 3," awaiting confirmation on whether one side will have Shadow the Hedgehog on it or not (you know, the important issues). Meanwhile, Cinemark announced that it will be releasing a Christmas-themed "Terrifier 3" bucket in the shape of Art the Clown's head, allowing you to pick his brain before he hacks yours away.

But is there another groundbreaking bit of paraphernalia on the horizon that could possibly outshine the sandworm of "Dune: Part Two?" It's obvious that "The Boys'" bucket was just a joke, so there's no danger of coming across that at your local theater. But even with that crossed off the list of future buckets, you only need to look at the rest of 2024's film release schedule to see the trend's potential future.

Might we get a Colosseum-shaped holder to fill with the perfect cinema snack when "Gladiator 2" arrives in November? Will "Venom: The Last Dance" bring about a giant, toothy take that might finally dethrone the sandworm by adding some extra tongue action to boot? Could a furry receptacle appear for the release of "Paddington in Peru?" Well, hopefully not. Sandy popcorn is one thing, but who wants to munch on food with hair in it?